Dow Industrials Extend Winning Streak
February 23 2017 - 10:47AM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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