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Banks and tech firms lead stocks higher; Dow sets another record

The New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan.
The New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan.
(Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images)
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Banks and technology companies led U.S. stocks to modest gains Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its second record close in two days.

Big retail chains and other consumer-focused stocks were among the gainers. Energy companies rose as the price of crude oil increased. Phone companies and utilities lagged behind the overall market.

“We’re continuing to hit record highs,” said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “It is a resilient market, impervious to whatever comes out of Washington.”

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The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.58 points, or 0.2%, to 2,447.83. The Dow inched up 20.95 points, or 0.1%, to 21,553.09. The Nasdaq composite advanced 13.27 points, or 0.2%, to 6,274.44. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks inched up 1.34 points, or 0.1%, to 1,425.66.

The major indexes are all on pace to end the week with gains.

Trading was mostly subdued for much of the day as investors weighed new economic data on applications for unemployment benefits and prices at the wholesale level.

Overall, investors were focused on the coming wave of corporate earnings.

“Markets are really biding their time until we get into tomorrow’s more robust earnings releases,” said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager for Private Wealth Management at U.S. Bank.

Banks and other financial stocks posted the largest gains. T. Rowe Price Group climbed 4.8% to $79.19. Goldman Sachs Group rose 1.3% to $230.40. Morgan Stanley ticked up 1.2% to $45.52.

The gains among financial companies came as investors looked ahead to Friday, when several big banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, release their second-quarter results.

“Banks certainly operate a bit in their own orbit, but at the same time financials globally are a proxy for the overall economy. Investors are definitely looking to see how those come out,” Davidson said.

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Traders will be focused on companies’ latest quarterly earnings for the next few weeks. The market expects earnings per share growth of about 7% from companies in the S&P 500.

Delta Air Lines released its earnings Thursday. Its shares slid 1.8% to $54.50 after the company reported a smaller profit and less revenue than analysts expected.

Traders also bid up shares in tech companies. NetApp climbed 3% to $41.38. PayPal rose 2.4% to $57.90.

Several large retailers had a good day.

Gap jumped 5.6% to $22.78, the biggest gain among S&P 500 companies. Macy’s rose 4.1% to $22.10.

Target advanced 4.8% to $53.31 as investors cheered its latest quarterly outlook. The retailer raised its second-quarter forecasts and said sales and customer traffic increased.

“That’s been a bit of fresh air in a very, very challenged sector,” Davidson said.

NRG Energy climbed 5.3% to $22.20 the day after it disclosed plans to raise up to $4 billion through asset sales to lower its debt.

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Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.35% from 2.33%.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 59 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $46.08 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 68 cents, or 1.4%, to $48.42 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline inched up less than 1 cent to $1.53 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.49 a gallon. Natural gas fell 2 cents to $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold fell $1.80 to $1,217.30 an ounce. Silver fell 20 cents to $15.69 an ounce. Copper fell 2 cents to $2.66 a pound.

The dollar slipped to 113.23 yen from 113.25 yen. The euro weakened to $1.1406 from $1.1415.

Major stock indexes in Europe closed mostly higher. Germany’s DAX rose 0.1%. The CAC 40 in France gained 0.3%. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.2% after a report showed that Chinese trade growth accelerated for a second month in June. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index was flat. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.7%.

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UPDATES:

2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.

This article was originally published at 8 a.m.

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