Oil and tech giants push Wall St higher – New York Report
Big tech and energy sector gains drove US stocks higher yesterday, boosting an index of 100 major Nasdaq companies to a record closing high.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.39 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 17,918.15, the S&P 500 gained 5.74 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 2,109.79 and the Nasdaq Composite added 17.98 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 5,145.13.
While energy stocks have risen about 22 per cent since late August, the sector is still down roughly 10 per cent year to date.
Oil majors Exxon and Chevron rose 1.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively, making both stocks among the top influences on the Dow and S&P. “People are looking for beaten down names in industries that may represent value,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.
Activision Blizzard rose 3.6 per cent to $35.82 and was the sixth biggest boost on the Nasdaq after the video games company said it would buy Candy Crush maker King Digital for $5.9bn. King soared 14.9 per cent to $17.85.
As the third-quarter earnings season winds down, investors will be looking to Friday’s employment report and other economic data for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates in December.
US companies have posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results so far this earnings season. One exception was insurer AIG, whose shares fell 4.4 per cent to $60.96 after the insurer’s quarterly profit missed estimates by a wide margin. Chief exec Peter Hancock said Carl Icahn’s proposal to break up the company did not “make financial sense”.