S&P Rises to New Record

The S&P 500 rose on Tuesday, breaking above an all-time high that was set before the coronavirus pandemic sent the broader market index tumbling.

The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 34.44 points to 27,879.35.

The S&P 500 gained 12.33 points to 3,394.53.

The NASDAQ added to Monday’s all-time high, gaining 72.17 points to 11,201.89.

Earlier this year, the S&P 500 tumbled more than 30% from its February record as the coronavirus pandemic sent profit expectations and economic activity tanking. However, the benchmark index for the U.S. stock market did not stay down for long.

Amazon shares outperformed, rising nearly 3%. Netflix and Alphabet both gained more than 1%. Consumer discretionary was the best-performing sector in the S&P 500, rising more than 1%.

Home Depot said sales last quarter jumped 23% as consumers stuck in their homes increased do-it-yourself projects. Earnings and sales exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Walmart’s earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates last quarter as same-store sales increased by 9.3%. E-commerce sales nearly doubled.

Tesla shares rose 1.6%. The stock is set to split five-for-one later this month.

U.S. housing starts for July totaled 1.496 million, easily topping an estimate of 1.24 million.

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 0.69% from Monday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions

Oil prices ditched 32 cents at $42.57 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $23.10 to $2,021.80 U.S. an ounce.