By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock indexes rose on Tuesday,
lifting the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
to record intraday highs, as Wall Street embraced the start of
first-quarter earnings.
"The fundamentals are too good to put a ceiling on the market.
During the fourth quarter, companies gave very, very muted outlooks
on the first quarter, so earnings might be mildly surprising on the
upside," said Margie Patel, senior portfolio manager at Wells
Capital Management.
After climbing 93 points to an all-time intraday high of
14,706.52, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was lately up
83.47 points at 14,696.95, above its all-time finish of 14,662.01,
set one week ago
Intel Corp. (INTC) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) paced gains that
included all but five of the blue-chip index's 30 members.
Alcoa Inc. (AA) shares drifted between slight gains and losses a
day after the aluminum producer reported results that marked the
unofficial start of the earnings season. (Read more about how Alcoa
earnings could boost the market:
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/04/09/how-alcoas-earnings-beat-could-fuel-the-sp-500/.)
After advancing to an intraday record of 1,572.35, the S&P
500 index (SPX) was more recently at 1,571.60, up 8.53 points and
above the 1,570.25 record-high finish set April 2.
All but one of its 10 sectors advanced, led by natural-resource
and energy, which drew support from Chinese inflation that slowed
more than had been expected.
Amid allegations of insider trading, KPMG resigned on Tuesday as
auditor at Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) and Skechers USA Inc. (SKX) .
Shares of both companies were halted for a period during the
session.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) dropped sharply as analysts deemed
Myron Ullman's return to the helm of the struggling retailer as not
necessarily a fix for the struggling retailer. See also whether
there is value in a buyout of J.C. Penney.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) climbed 8.66 points to 3,230.89.
For every stock falling nearly two gained on the New York Stock
Exchange, where 319 million shares traded as of 1:50 p.m.
Eastern.
Composite volume surpassed 1.9 billion.
On Monday, U.S. stocks finished modestly higher as investors
again viewed a market dip as a buying opportunity.
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