Dow and S&P eke out rises on a slow day – New York Report
THE DOW and S&P 500 yesterday eked out a fifth session of record-closing highs, barely extending the market’s recent rally in light volume as consumer discretionary shares gained.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.16 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 17,614.9, a record high close. The S&P 500 gained 1.42 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,039.68, also a new record. The Nasdaq Composite added 8.94 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 4,660.56.
The S&P 500’s top percentage gainer was Zoetis, which jumped 8.9 per cent to $43.72. Activist hedge fund manager William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Holdings has taken a new position in the animal health company, two sources familiar with the matter said.
In the consumer discretionary space, shares of homebuilders rose after DR Horton reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and said orders jumped 38 per cent, suggesting an uptick in housing demand. DR Horton shares rose 2.2 per cent to $23.95.
Cable providers mostly remained under pressure for a second straight session after US President Barack Obama said on Monday that internet service providers should be regulated more like public utilities. Time Warner Cable was down 1.3 per cent at $134.78.
And shares of Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba fell 3.9 per cent to $114.54 even after its big online shopping day — “Singles Day” — raked in more than $2bn (£1.25bn) in sales in one hour.