S&P 500 seals first six-day win streak since September
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 extending its longest winning run of the year, as investors considered earnings from companies including McDonald's and Netflix along with a roughly $45 billion offer for Allergan.
"We've had some high-profile deals in the health care sector that have folks excited, and we've had some good earnings numbers, which is motivating people to buy stocks," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.
Allergan jumped after Valeant Pharmaceuticals International proposed a merger with the Botox maker. Netflix rallied after projecting price hikes for new customers. McDonald's gained after posting a lower quarterly profit.
Stocks advanced further after data had existing home sales hitting 4.59 million in March, versus a 4.55 million estimate.
"Stocks are reacting to modestly higher first-quarter earnings that of course are weather impacted, and the housing numbers looked constructive today," said Jim Russell, senior equity strategist for US Bank Wealth Management.
"We think the Ukrainian situation is clearly the external wildcard at this point," Russell added of the situation that on Tuesday had Ukraine's acting president calling for the relaunch of an anti-terrorist operation in the east part of the country after the body of a local politician was found showing signs of torture.
Read MoreUkraine politico calls for anti-terrorism relaunch
Major U.S. Indexes
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .DJI | Dow Jones Industrial Average | DJIA | 38,239.66 | +153.86 | +0.40% |
| .IXIC | NASDAQ Composite | NASDAQ | 15,927.90 | +316.14 | +2.03% |
| .SPX | S&P 500 Index | S&P 500 | 5,099.96 | +51.54 | +1.02% |
After a 116-point jump, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.12 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,514.37, with Home Depot pacing gains that extended to 19 of its 30 components.
The Dow Transports rose to an intraday record, with GATX and Alaska Air Group among the year's top gainers.
The move to transportation stocks is "consistent with a more value-oriented stock market," said Russell, who noted that many trucking companies have been doing quite well, despite higher fuel prices.
The advanced 7.66 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,879.55, with health care the best performing of its sectors and consumer staples falling the most.
The Nasdaq rose 39.91 points, or 1 percent, to 4,161.46.
For every share falling, nearly three gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 679 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.2 billion.
The dollar fell against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note used in figuring mortgage rates and other consumer loans held at 2.718 percent.
Crude futures for May delivery fell $2.24 to $102.13 a barrel; gold futures for June delivery fell $7.40 to $1,281.10 an ounce.
Stocks gained on Monday, with the S&P 500 netting its first five-day winning streak since October, as investors looked to a slew of quarterly earnings reports.
—By CNBC's Kate Gibson
Coming Up This Week:
Tuesday
1:00 p.m.: $32 billion 2-year Treasury auction
Wednesday
Earnings: Boeing, Procter and Gamble, Facebook, Ericsson, Northrop Grumman, Norfolk Southern, Dow Chemical, Owens Corning, TD Ameritrade, Ryder Systems, Tupperware, WR Grace, Omnicare, LPL Financial, Johnson Controls, Ingersoll-Rand, EMC, F5 Networks, ETrade, Zynga, Xilinx, Texas Instruments, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Delta Airlines, Air Products, Biogen Idec, Raymond James, Morningstar, Safeway, Stryker,Qualcomm
8:58 a.m.: Manufacturing PMI
10:00 a.m.: New home sales
1:00 p.m.: $35 billion 5-year Treasury auction
Thursday
Earnings: Microsoft, Amazon.com, Caterpillar, Verizon, 3M, General Motors, UPS, United Continental, Timken, Starbucks, Freeport-McMoRan, Entergy, Jet Blue, Hershey, Imax, Noble Energy, Under Armour, T. Rowe Price, Stanley Black and Decker, Starwood, Broadcom, Applied Micro Nasdaq OMX, KKR, Peabody Energy, Potash, PulteGroup, Raytheon, Quest Diagnostics, Occidental Petroleum, NY Times, Novartis, Nucor, Altria, AstraZeneca, Amerisource Bergen, Alexion Pharma, Avnet, Brunswick, Bemis, Cabot Oil and Gas, Delphi Automotive,Eli Lilly, Dunkin Brands, DR Horton, Celgene, Pandora
8:30 a.m.: Weekly claims
8:30 a.m.: Durable goods
11:00 a.m.: Kansas City Fed survey
1:00 p.m.: $29 billion 7-year Treasury auction
Friday
Earnings: Ford, Colgate-Palmolive, Goodyear Tire, Honda Motors,Moody's, Covidien, VF Corp, Weyerhaeuser, Dana Holding, Tyco, WPP Group, State Street, AON, American Electric Power
8:58 a.m.: Services PMI
9:55 a.m.: Consumer sentiment
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