By Jonathan Cheng Investors nudged stocks higher after Germany's Constitutional Court decided not to block the euro zone's bailout fund, clearing one hurdle for investors as they braced for Apple's new iPhone release.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 6 points, or 0.05%, to 13330, one day after rising to its highest level since December 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 1.2 points, or 0.09%, to 1434 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.42 point, or 0.02%, to 3105.
Leading the gains were telecommunications, energy and financial stocks. Travelers gained 1.2% and J.P. Morgan Chase rose 1.1%, while General Electric tacked on 1.3%. Weighing on the downside were utilities shares.
In corporate news, shares of Apple slipped 0.1% ahead of the much-anticipated unveiling of the new iPhone, slated for 1:00 p.m. EDT.
Facebook ran up 5.7% after founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the stock's performance had been disappointing, but was upbeat about the company's outlook in the mobile space.
J.P. Morgan analysts said they were "incrementally more positive" on the social-media giant after Mr. Zuckerberg's remarks, while other analysts chimed in to give the company credit for some of its initiatives. Zynga, which offers many of its social-media games on Facebook, rose 3.7%.
European markets rose but were off earlier highs, after Germany's Constitutional Court cleared the way to allow the country to ratify the euro-zone's permanent bailout fund. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.2% and Germany's DAX tacked on 0.6%.
Taking some shine of the rally, data showed that U.K. unemployment increased in the three months to July, the first rise since the three months to November 2011. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%.
"The court has removed a near-term uncertainty in Europe, but it doens't change the larger issues there," said Reed Choate, portfolio manager at asset manager Neville, Rodie Shaw in New York.
Mr. Choate said his firm is selling some of its stock holdings and taking a more conservative approach to the market, given the gains so far and worries about the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. deficit and Europe.
Asian markets rallied after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said economic growth would meet the official target of 7.5% for 2012. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.7%.
In U.S. economic news, import prices rose 0.7% in August, below expectations. U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.7% in July, higher than forecasts.
Meantime, investors awaited the results of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee, which is set to announce its latest statement after its two-day meeting ends on Thursday. Expectations that new stimulus measures will be announced are running high, and helped push the Dow Tuesday to close at the highest level in nearly five years.
Crude-oil futures edged up to about $97.30 a barrel, while gold futures inched higher to about $1,740 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro, which traded intraday above $1.29 to a four-month high. The greenback gained ground against the yen.
In other stock movers, Chesapeake Energy rose 0.3% after the natural-gas producer said it entered into multiple agreements to sell most of its Permian properties and substantially all of its midstream assets for about $6.9 billion in cash.
Texas Instruments slipped 1.1% after the semiconductor maker lifted the lower end of its third-quarter earnings view, but said it expected soft demand to continue.
Paccar dropped 1% after the truck maker said third-quarter production of commercial trucks would be lower than expected, citing slowing orders in North America in recent months.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at [email protected]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 6 points, or 0.05%, to 13330, one day after rising to its highest level since December 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 1.2 points, or 0.09%, to 1434 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.42 point, or 0.02%, to 3105.
Leading the gains were telecommunications, energy and financial stocks. Travelers gained 1.2% and J.P. Morgan Chase rose 1.1%, while General Electric tacked on 1.3%. Weighing on the downside were utilities shares.
In corporate news, shares of Apple slipped 0.1% ahead of the much-anticipated unveiling of the new iPhone, slated for 1:00 p.m. EDT.
Facebook ran up 5.7% after founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the stock's performance had been disappointing, but was upbeat about the company's outlook in the mobile space.
J.P. Morgan analysts said they were "incrementally more positive" on the social-media giant after Mr. Zuckerberg's remarks, while other analysts chimed in to give the company credit for some of its initiatives. Zynga, which offers many of its social-media games on Facebook, rose 3.7%.
European markets rose but were off earlier highs, after Germany's Constitutional Court cleared the way to allow the country to ratify the euro-zone's permanent bailout fund. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.2% and Germany's DAX tacked on 0.6%.
Taking some shine of the rally, data showed that U.K. unemployment increased in the three months to July, the first rise since the three months to November 2011. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%.
"The court has removed a near-term uncertainty in Europe, but it doens't change the larger issues there," said Reed Choate, portfolio manager at asset manager Neville, Rodie Shaw in New York.
Mr. Choate said his firm is selling some of its stock holdings and taking a more conservative approach to the market, given the gains so far and worries about the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. deficit and Europe.
Asian markets rallied after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said economic growth would meet the official target of 7.5% for 2012. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.7%.
In U.S. economic news, import prices rose 0.7% in August, below expectations. U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.7% in July, higher than forecasts.
Meantime, investors awaited the results of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee, which is set to announce its latest statement after its two-day meeting ends on Thursday. Expectations that new stimulus measures will be announced are running high, and helped push the Dow Tuesday to close at the highest level in nearly five years.
Crude-oil futures edged up to about $97.30 a barrel, while gold futures inched higher to about $1,740 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro, which traded intraday above $1.29 to a four-month high. The greenback gained ground against the yen.
In other stock movers, Chesapeake Energy rose 0.3% after the natural-gas producer said it entered into multiple agreements to sell most of its Permian properties and substantially all of its midstream assets for about $6.9 billion in cash.
Texas Instruments slipped 1.1% after the semiconductor maker lifted the lower end of its third-quarter earnings view, but said it expected soft demand to continue.
Paccar dropped 1% after the truck maker said third-quarter production of commercial trucks would be lower than expected, citing slowing orders in North America in recent months.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at [email protected]