U.S. stocks posted modest gains Monday, extending a record-setting run into a sixth straight week.
The three major stock indexes closed at new highs, despite a day of mostly listless trading as investors looked ahead to a slew of company earnings reports over the next few weeks.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.47 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,557.64. Last week marked the index's fifth-straight weekly gain.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 22,956.96. The Nasdaq composite gained 18.20 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,624. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks inched up 0.02 points to 1,502.68.
Financial and technology companies notched some of the biggest gains. Energy stocks also rose as crude oil prices closed higher. Health care companies declined the most. Bond prices fell.
"Today is a sort of wait-and-see market as investors are really looking for the direction of earnings and whether companies continue to report strong results," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. "That will be a catalyst for stocks to move higher."
Trading was subdued for most of the day Monday. Stocks edged up early on and wavered somewhat by afternoon but ultimately held on to their slight gains as traders awaited for more quarterly results from companies to pour in.
A few companies, mostly big banks, kicked off the third-quarter earnings season last week. Monday was a relatively light day for earnings, but the pace picks up today and into next week, when the bulk of S&P 500 companies are to report quarterly results.
Among the companies set to report earnings this week are Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth Group, American Express and General Electric.
In the meantime, investors bid up shares in banks and technology companies. The sectors are the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 so far this year. JPMorgan Chase gained $1.98, or 2.1 percent, to $97.84. Micron Technology rose $1.09 or 2.7 percent, to $41.49.
"Tech and financials are somewhat higher as investors continue to expect good earnings ahead," Warne said.
Health care stocks declined the most. Allergan fell $7.11, or 3.5 percent, to $198.41, while Bristol-Myers Squibb slid $1.64, or 2.5 percent, to $63.65.
Oil prices rose amid rising tensions in the Middle East as Iraqi federal forces moved into the disputed city of Kirkuk and seized oil fields, prompting a withdrawal by Kurdish forces. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 42 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $51.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, climbed 65 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $57.82 a barrel in London.
That helped drive up the shares of energy companies. Apache rose 90 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $42.50.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline was little changed at $1.62 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.81 a gallon. Natural gas slid 5 cents to $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.30 percent from 2.27 percent late Friday.
Gold fell $1.60 to $1,303 an ounce. Silver slid 4 cents to $17.37 an ounce. Copper rose 11 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $3.24 a pound.
Business on 10/17/2017