NEW YORK -- The market's biggest winners this year, technology and health care, powered U.S. stock indexes to more all-time highs on Tuesday.
Technology companies like Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. continued their ascent, while strong reports from companies including medical device maker Medtronic PLC and construction and technical services company Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. helped health care and industrial companies, respectively.
Basic materials companies, which have done better than the rest of the Standard & Poor's 500 index, also rose. Telecommunications companies declined, while energy companies and banks didn't do as well as the rest of the market.
The S&P 500 index climbed 16.89 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,599.03. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 160.50 points, or 0.7 percent, to 23,590.83. The Nasdaq composite added 71.76 points, or 1.1 percent, to 6,862.48.
Apple, Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook, the five most valuable companies on the stock market, all rose more than 1 percent, and they've all had a very strong year. Joe Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said that's not about to stop.
"They're seeing better earnings, better sales, better growth," he said. "It's difficult to argue with that."
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose for a fourth day and picked up 15.49 points, or 1 percent, to 1,518.89. All four indexes set records. The Russell had struggled in recent weeks, but on Tuesday it beat its record close from early October.
Big-name technology companies led the way overall. Apple rose $3.16, or 1.9 percent, to $173.14 and Facebook added $3.12, or 1.7 percent, to $181.86. Health care companies climbed, as well. Those two sectors are the best-performing parts of the market this year.
Homebuilders climbed after the National Association of Realtors said sales of homes grew in October. They're down slightly from last year because there are so few houses on the market, but the tight supply and rising prices have sent homebuilder stocks soaring this year. On Tuesday, NVR Inc. advanced $59.69, or 1.8 percent, to $3,377, while D.R. Horton Inc. gained $1.15, or 2.4 percent, to $49.35.
Along with those reports, investors were cheered by projections from Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin, who forecast that the S&P 500 will rise 14 percent in 2018 if corporate taxes are cut. Kostin, who didn't think stocks would rise that much this year, now says the bull market could last three more years, with continued economic growth and lower taxes taking the S&P 500 to 3,100 by the end of 2020.
Kinahan, of TD Ameritrade, said the potential tax cuts might help stocks in another way: usually, investors might sell some of their holdings after a better-than-expected year like this one. But right now, they're not sure what their taxes will look like in 2018.
Medtronic jumped after it posted profit that was larger than analysts had expected. The company said sales of heart devices, including newer devices like its CoreValve Evolut Pro heart valve, drove its sales higher in the fiscal second quarter. The stock rose $3.76, or 4.8 percent, to $82.66.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. plunged $23.05, or 30.4 percent, to $52.79 after the company slashed its annual forecast. The company recently sold its highest-quality loans to Alliance Data Systems, but the company said "disruptions" related to that move have affected sales, especially for its Kay brand.
Campbell Soup Co.'s profit and sales both fell a bit short of analysts' forecasts. The company reported a 9 percent drop in soup revenue and said carrot costs increased. It also faced greater logistics costs in the aftermath of the hurricanes. The stock shed $4.09, or 8.2 percent, to $45.84.
Business on 11/22/2017