By Jonathan Cheng
U.S. stock gains picked up steam in afternoon trading as the Dow
Jones Industrial Average climbed over the 15000 level, notching
another landmark on the market's record run.
The blue-chip Dow industrials advanced 77 points, or 0.5%, to
15045 in Tuesday afternoon trading. It first breached the 15000
level in intraday trading last Friday. The Standard & Poor's
500-stock index, meantime, added eight points, or 0.5%, to 1625,
extending its string of all-time highs, while the Nasdaq Composite
added four points, or 0.1%, to 3397.
The Dow's push above 15000 comes as investors' confidence in the
economic recovery grows. While earnings reports have been
lackluster in recent weeks, a strong report on U.S. hiring last
Friday helped dispel worries about a slowdown in the economic
recovery like the ones the U.S. has suffered in recent spring
seasons.
"Investors have played the worry game, and those that have sat
on the sidelines in cash are starting to question that, because
this has been a pretty resilient market," said Sean Lynch, global
investment strategist at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees
about $170 billion in assets.
Tuesday's broad global stock gains suggested that global stock
markets, which have generally lagged the U.S. in recent years, may
be gaining momentum, now that global investors are growing
comfortable with the global economy.
"We've had U.S. large-cap stocks leading the global markets, but
now investors may start to look to other countries where the
economy is not so bad and where valuations are cheaper," Mr. Lynch
said, pointing to the German DAX's record-setting close on
Tuesday.
Leading the U.S. gains Tuesday were telecommunications,
industrial and financial stocks. J.P. Morgan Chase led the Dow
components, climbing 2.2%, while Caterpillar, an industrial giant
tied to global growth, rose 2%. Bank of America and DuPont each
rose 1.6%.
Technology stocks, however, lagged as Apple and Google both
pulled back. Cisco Systems fell 1.8%, most among the Dow
components, while Microsoft retreated 1.1%.
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%. 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 0.7% to finish at an all-time high. The Stoxx Europe
600, meantime, gained 0.3% to its highest level since June
2008.
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 0.7% to $95.45 a barrel, while gold
futures lost 1.3% to $1,449.50 an ounce. The dollar slipped against
both the euro and the yen. Demand for Treasurys fell, pushing the
yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to 1.79%.
Among stock movers, Apple reversed an early advance to fall
0.4%. Google was off 0.2%.
Fossil led the S&P 500 components, soaring 9.8% after the
fashion-accessories retailer raised its full-year earnings
estimate.
EOG Resources gained 7.9% after quarterly profits and revenue
topped estimates.
DirecTV climbed 7% after foreign exchange-adjusted earnings and
revenue both topped expectations.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com