Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Tuesday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first close above 36,000 points. The Dow added 138.79 points, or 0.4%, and closed at 36,052.63. The S&P 500 rose 16.98 points, or 0.4%, to 4,630.65, another record high. The Nasdaq rose 53.69 points, or 0.3%, to 15,649.60. The gains came ahead of more news this week from the Federal Reserve and on the jobs market, the AP reports. The Fed is considering ways to wind down its extraordinary support measures for the economy. Its next policy statement comes out Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.54%.
Technology stocks made solid gains. Cloud networking company Arista Networks surged 20.5% after giving investors an encouraging financial forecast following a strong third-quarter report. Health care stocks also rose. Prescription drug distributor McKesson gained 5.3% after raising its profit forecast. Pfizer gained 4% after delivering a strong profit report and raising its forecast. Losses in energy stocks, utilities, and a mix of companies that rely on direct consumer spending tempered gains elsewhere in the market. Crude oil prices slipped 0.2% and weighed down energy stocks. Exxon Mobil fell 1.1%.
Investors are waiting for the latest comments from the Federal Reserve as it moves ahead with plans to ease the extraordinary support measures put in place at the beginning of the pandemic to shore up the markets and economy. Chair Jerome Powell has signaled the Fed will announce after its policy meeting Wednesday that it will start paring its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases as soon as this month. Those purchases are intended to keep long-term loan rates low to encourage borrowing and spending.
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