By Jonathan Cheng
The Dow industrials rose back up above 15000 and the Standard
& Poor's 500-stock index pushed deeper into record territory,
following strong economic data in Germany, a surprise rate cut in
Australia and a jump in Japanese stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 34 points, or 0.2%, to
15004 in Tuesday morning trading. The Standard & Poor's
500-stock index added three points, or 0.2%, to 1621, while the
Nasdaq Composite slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 3391.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to close at a second
straight all-time high, while the Dow pulled back just short of the
15000 level.
Leading the gains were industrial, telecommunications and energy
stocks. Caterpillar rose 1.8% to lead the Dow components, while
UnitedHealth and Pfizer gained 1% and 0.9% respectively. Technology
stocks, however, lagged as Apple and Google both pulled back. Cisco
Systems declined 1.3% to drag the Dow lower, while Microsoft lost
0.5%.
About an hour into the U.S. trading session, stocks pared their
advance as commodities prices weakened. Some traders said the
action may have been triggered by geopolitical headlines from the
Middle East, though the pullback proved short-lived.
The broad stock advance in the U.S. came on the heels of big
stock gains and economic signals from Asia and Europe.
In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised investors
by lowering its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to
a record low of 2.75%. Australia's S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.2%. In
Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average surged 3.6% to a near five-year
high, following a long holiday weekend.
In Europe, German manufacturing orders for March rose 2.2%,
compared with expectations of a 0.5% decline. Germany's DAX 30
index climbed 0.8%, on track to close at an all-time high. The
Stoxx Europe 600, meantime, gained 0.2% to the highest level since
June 2008.
Ryan Larson, head of equity trading at RBC Global Asset
Management in Chicago, said the recent aggressive action by central
banks around the world have helped bolster stock markets in Asia
and Europe.
"The problems haven't been resolved, but the worries have
faded," Mr. Larson said. "It does appear we're moving in the right
direction. The Fed and the BOJ remain very accommodative, and that
has helped provide a good backstop."
In the U.S., the economic calendar is relatively light. The U.S.
Labor Department showed 3.8 million job openings in March. At 3
p.m. EDT, consumer credit during March is expected to show a $15.5
billion increase on the month.
Crude-oil futures gave up 0.6% to $95.58 a barrel, while gold
futures lost 1.3% to $1,449.10 an ounce. The dollar was flat
against the euro and slipped against the yen. Demand for Treasurys
fell, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to
1.78%.
Among stock movers, Apple reversed earlier gains to fall 0.9%,
following its 18% gain off its April 19 closing low.
EOG Resources jumped 7.9% to lead the S&P 500 components
after quarterly profits and revenue topped estimates.
DirecTV ran up 5.9% after foreign exchange-adjusted earnings and
revenue both topped expectations.
Fossil soared 7.2% after the fashion-accessories retailer raised
its full-year earnings estimate.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com