U.S. stocks pushed higher Wednesday, with the Dow rising for the fifth straight trading session to close at a new record high after a string of upbeat economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to close at 16,097.2. The S&P 500 index tacked on 0.3% to close at 1,807.2.
And the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% to end at 4,044.75.
Technology stocks performed well on Wednesday. Former Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) rallied after a better-than-expected earnings report. International Business Machines (IBM) led gainers in the Dow industrials.
Still, it was a string of economic reports that sent the indicies higher, including better-than-expecetd data on jobless claims, manufacturing in the Midwest and consumer confidence.
U.S. stock markets will remain closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, and close early — 1 p.m. EST – on Friday.
Earlier today, October orders for durable goods fell by 2%.
Consumer confidence was stronger than expected in November. The final reading of the Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for the month was revised up to 75.1, above the projected 73.5. The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators rose 0.2%, while it was expected to remain unchanged.
The ISM's Chicago-area purchasing managers’ index slipped to 63.0 in November, while a decline to 60.0 was expected. Earlier, the Department of Labor reported there were 316,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the latest week, fewer than the 330,000 expected.
Looking ahead, investors are focused on the December meeting of the Federal Reserve. The central bank has said it could start to pare back those policies in coming months, but that the decision will depend on economic data.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.739% from 2.696% late Tuesday.
Crude-oil futures fell after a government survey showed domestic supplies rose for a 10th straight week, dragging down major oil companies including Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and Noble Energy (NBL).
Meanwhile, gold futures fell, while the dollar edged lower against the euro and rose against the yen.
In other corporate news, Time Warner Cable (TWC) edged higher after The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Cox Communications is considering jumping into the bidding for the second-largest cable operator.
Charter Communications (CHTR) and Comcast (CMCSA) are each also contemplating bids. The WSJ reported late today that Charter is arranging $25 billionin debt to fund its bid.
Shares of Charter and Comcast fell 0.9% and 0.3% respectively.
A federal judge cleared the way for AMR (AAMRQ) to exit bankruptcy, clearing the way for a merger between American Airlines (owned by AMR) and U.S. Airways Group (LCC). AMR and U.S. Airlines rose 2.7% and 0.6% respectively.
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CVS Caremark (CVS) rose 1% to $66.77 after it said it would buy medical provider Coram LLC to continue its push into the specialty-drug market.
Tesla Motors (TSLA) rose 5.3% to $126.94 after analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank posted opposing notes.
Crocs (CROX) rose 2.2% to $15.84 after Bloomberg reported the firm may be seeing an investment from private equity firms.
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