Stocks rally: Dow, S&P 500 set closing highs
Stocks finished higher Tuesday as the Dow and S&P 500 jumped further into record territory, boosted by the health care sector and a pair of positive developments from abroad.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.2% to a new closing high of 17,687.82.
Climbing 0.5% to its record close of 2051.80 was the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The Nasdaq composite index jumped 0.7%. All three indexes stayed in the black from the opening bell and reached session highs about mid-afternoon before receding a bit.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shot up 370.26 points, or 2.2%, on anticipation of government action, to close at 17,334.04. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told leaders of his party he would postpone a sales tax hike planned for next year until 2017 and hold elections in December, according to public broadcaster NHK.
"Overseas developments -- including Japan's decision to delay a planned sales tax increase, and encouraging economic sentiment data out of Germany -- are helping to assist the Dow on its northward trek," says Alex Eppstein, analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
The move in Japan was viewed positively, as an earlier sales tax program offset much of the stimulus the government has pumped into its weak economy, resulting in two straight quarters of negative growth in Japan, which equates to a recession.
Signs of an economic rebound in Germany was also well-received, as the German economy is the biggest driver of Eurozone growth and has been hampered in recent months due to the Ukraine / Russia crisis, that has resulted in economic sanctions against Russia, a major trading partner of Germany.
European markets also gained: London's FTSE index rose 0.6% to 6709.13 and Germany's DAX jumped 1.6% to 9456.53.
In corporate news:
Home Depot (HD) reported higher profit and sales in the third quarter despite a massive data breach in September. Shares fell 1.4%.
Shares of pharmaceutical giant Actavis (ACT) jumped 7.4% a day after it agreed to buy Botox-maker Allergan (AGN) for $66 billion. Allergan shares rose 2%.
Medical device maker Medtronic (MDT) was among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 as shares jumped 4.2%.
In economic news: Wholesale inflation ticked up as the producer price index unexpectedly rose 0.2% in October. Economist were expecting a decline of 0.1%. Core prices, excluding the volatile gas and food costs, rose 0.4%.
In other Asian markets: Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 267.91 points, or 1.1%, to 23,529.17 and the Shanghai composite fell 17.64 points, or 0.71%, to finish at 2456.37.
U.S. markets ended mixed on Monday.
Contributing: Paste BN's Adam Shell, the Associated Press