NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 again set records Wednesday in a quiet day of pre-holiday trading. Machinery and equipment makers climbed after strong results from Deere.
Stocks opened mostly lower, but they slowly recovered. Shares of industrial companies such as Caterpillar and United Technologies continued to rise. Banks also rose as bond yields climbed. Companies that make hardware and network devices skidded after printer and personal-computer maker Hewlett Packard provided a weak profit forecast.
"It sends kind of a chill through the sector," said Sameer Samana, a strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
The Dow rose 59.31 points, or 0.3 percent, to 19,083.18. The S&P 500 edged up 1.78 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,204.72. The Nasdaq composite lost 5.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,380.68. Trading was relatively light ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. markets will be closed today and will close early on Friday.
Deere, which makes agricultural and construction equipment, reported a bigger profit than analysts expected even though its business has been hurt by a construction slowdown and low commodity prices, which have caused farmers to cut back on purchases of equipment. Shares rose $10.16, or 11 percent, to $102.17, the company's highest-ever closing price.
Already trading at record highs, industrial companies continued to rise after Deere's report. Construction and mining equipment-maker Caterpillar gained $2.56, or 2.7 percent, to $96.18. United Technologies, which makes elevators, jet engines and other things, added $1.17, or 1.1 percent, to $108.11. Both companies are Dow components, which contributed to the index's big gain.
Hewlett Packard lost ground after it issued a profit forecast that disappointed investors. Its stock gave up $1.08, or 6.8 percent, to $14.87. Tech stocks did well this summer, but they have lagged the market since the presidential election. Samana said investors are concerned that President-elect Donald Trump's immigration policies will hurt tech companies' ability to hire workers.
"You may see foreign competitors be able to be more attractive places for talent if there were to be greater restrictions over who could and could not come over," he said.
Bond prices dropped, sending yields higher. The yield on the two-year Treasury note rose to 1.13 percent from 1.09 percent. The yield on that note is at its highest in more than six years. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.36 percent from 2.31 percent, its highest in almost a year and a half.
Higher bond yields are linked to higher interest rates, so the rising yields helped bank stocks turn higher. Capital One rose $2.03, or 2.5 percent, to $84.62, and Sterling Bancorp jumped 45 cents, or 2 percent, to $23.50. The S&P 500 financial index is up 12 percent since the election while the S&P 500 itself is up 3 percent.
The price of gold reached its lowest level since February as it tumbled $21.90, or 1.8 percent, to $1,189.30 an ounce. Silver fell 24 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $16.39 an ounce. But copper picked up 6 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $2.61 a pound.
Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 7 cents to $47.96 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 17 cents to $48.95 a barrel in London.
Business on 11/24/2016