The benchmark S&P 500 touched a record high on Tuesday and equaled its longest-ever bull-market run, buoyed by strong earnings reports in the consumer sector and relative calm in the trade dispute between the United States and China.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The benchmark S&P 500 touched a record high on Tuesday and equaled its longest-ever bull-market run, buoyed by strong earnings reports in the consumer sector and relative calm in the trade dispute between the United States and China.
The S&P 500. SPX rose as much as 0.6 percent to a record intraday high of 2,873.23 points, topping its previous record high of 2,872.87 on Jan. 26, though it closed below both those marks.
Late in the day, stock market futures fell after U. S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other charges, saying he made payments to influence the 2016 election at the direction of a candidate for federal office.
“The stock market loves the Trump agenda. Anything that’s damaging to Donald Trump’s agenda is not going to be good for the stock market,” said Stephen Massoca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.
The index’s bull-market run is now 3,452 days old and on Wednesday would become the longest such streak in history, at least for some market watchers.
Trade-sensitive industrial stocks rose for the fourth consecutive session as investors remained optimistic the United States and China could move closer to settling their trade dispute. The S&P 500 industrial index. SPLRCI rose 0.8 percent.
The S&P consumer discretionary index. SPLRCD climbed 0.9 percent as shares of off-price retailer TJX Companies Inc ( TJX. N) rose on strong results and Toll Brothers Inc’s ( TOL.
