BCS Barclays PLC

By Riva Gold 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its gains Thursday, putting the index on track for a 10th consecutive session of records.

The Dow industrials rose 32 points, or 0.2%, to 20808. The S&P 500 gained 0.1%, also on track for a fresh high, and the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.2%.

Hopes for stronger growth under the new U.S. administration have fueled the recent rally.

President Donald Trump aims to secure a U.S. tax-code overhaul by August, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday. Mr. Mnuchin added that the administration was committed to boosting U.S. economic growth to at least a 3% annual rate -- a projection not widely shared by other forecasters.

"Growth momentum has improved since last summer, and on top of that, the biggest economy in the world has a new president saying he's willing to spend money," said Florian Ielpo at Swiss fund manager Unigestion.

"We're still very positive on the world economy, not only because of what's happening in the U.S. right now with leading indicators spiking up, but Europe seems to be doing decently and emerging markets seem to have stabilized if not improved," he added.

Some investors remain cautious, however, noting stocks are getting expensive despite a range of political risks on the horizon.

"It feels to me like the market is pricing in a lot more optimism than it should be," said David Lafferty, chief strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management.

Shares of energy companies led the S&P 500 higher on Thursday as oil prices climbed. The S&P 500 energy sector rose 0.8%, with Transocean and National Oilwell Varco posting some of the biggest gains.

U.S. crude oil jumped 2.2% to $54.77 a barrel.

Government bonds and their stock-market proxies gained.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged lower to 2.390%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.416% Wednesday. Yields fall as bond prices rise.

Shares of utilities companies in the S&P 500, often considered bond-like stocks because of their dividends, rose 0.5%. Real-estate companies in the S&P 500 rose 0.3%.

The dollar pulled back for a second session. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was recently down 0.3%.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1%, lifted by advances in shares of oil-and-gas companies.

Japan's Nikkei ended flat and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.4%, weighed by a decline in bank shares.

--Akane Otani and Ese Erheriene contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2017 10:32 ET (15:32 GMT)

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