Wall Street rises, Dow passes record
NEW YORK – Wall Street advanced on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials pushing past its record close as Asian markets recovered from a selloff and investors sifted through a barrage of corporate profit reports.
Investors breathed a bit easier after Asian markets staged a recovery overnight, soothing concerns the region was in jeopardy of slipping into an economic crisis. The Thai government on Tuesday partially backed off a plan to impose capital controls on foreign investors.
Investors viewed a strong report from automobile dealership chain CarMax Inc. as a boost to the automotive industry. However, transports were lower after FedEx Corp. forecast third-quarter earnings that trailed Wall Street projections.
The stock market advance comes a day after investors overcame lackluster figures on inflation to send the Dow to its 21st record close since the start of October.
“We view this as an interesting market – one that is clearly liquidity driven versus fundamentally driven,” said David Iben, chief investment officer of Tradewinds, an affiliate of Nuveen Investments. “That help explains why the market is moving higher with little news.”
In late afternoon trading, the Dow rose 4.16, or 0.03 percent, to 12,475.48. On Tuesday, the Dow closed at a record 12,471.32, and hit a record intraday high of 12,491.91.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 0.99, or 0.07 percent, to 1,424.56, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.12, or 0.05 percent, to 1,430.68.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60 percent from 4.59 percent late Tuesday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Bill Strazzullo, partner and chief market strategist at Bell Curve Trading, said the S&P’s slight weakness may be technical. He sees the index’s top at 1,450, and believes investors are pulling money back to lock in profits.
New York Stock Exchange shareholders on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted for a proposed $14.3 billion acquisition of Paris-based Euronext that would form the first trans-Atlantic financial market.
NYSE shares fell 26 cents to close at $103.10.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 3.70, or 0.47 percent, at 785.80.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.09 billion shares.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 1.40 percent. At the close, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.09 percent, Germany’s DAX index was up 0.51 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was up 0.54 percent.