Markets Right Now: US stock indexes close at record highs

Major stock markets in NY closed at record highs Thursday amid a broad rally from banks, materials and technology companies.

About 8.2 billion shares changed hands in USA exchanges, above the 8 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. Bond yields are falling, and investors seeking income are buying stocks that pay large dividends, like real estate investment trusts.

Mylan was the seventh biggest faller on the S&P 500, down 4.2% to $34.35 and was in good company as other drugs firms dominated the decliners too.

On Wednesday, the Dow and S&P 500 closed higher by 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively, as each gauge scored a record close (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-industrials-aim-for-fresh-all-time-high-2016-12-07). “I’m going to bring down drug prices”, Trump told Time in his “Person of the Year” cover story (http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/). More recently, for Barack Obama, the Dow Jones dropped in value within his first six months due to the global financial crash yet rose by over 15% when he was re-elected in 2012.

Banks have also been helped by rising bond yields in the US and Europe, which sent interest rates higher, making loans more profitable.

The Dow is up 1,826.75, or 10.5 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 254.19 points, or 1.32 percent, to 19,505.97, the S&P 500 gained 21.37 points, or 0.97 percent, to 2,233.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.14 points, or 0.92 percent, to 5,382.14.

The S&P 500 healthcare index .SPXHC swiftly lost 1.56 percent, while the Nasdaq Biotechnology index .NBI dropped 3.8 percent – set for its worst day in almost two months.

The Nasdaq is 325.59 points, or 6.5 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 138.11 points, or 2.6 percent.

Wall Street climbed on Tuesday as telecom stalwarts AT&T and Verizon gained and bank shares added to their torrid post-election rally, helping the Dow set another record closing high.

Bucking the trend were shares of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Merck.

Other companies were lower after reporting disappointing results.

Technology .SPLRCT stocks rose 0.56 percent – their four straight day of gains – providing the biggest boost to the S&P. Its stock jumped $8.60, or 17.9 percent, to $56.60.

STARVING: Chipotle Mexican Grill fell $29.25, or 7.5 percent, to $367.04 after the company’s CEO said he was “nervous” about hitting full-year forecasts and that the company’s turnaround is going slower than expected. Industrial conglomerate Honeywell picked up $3.25, or 2.9 percent, to $116.32 and truck maker Paccar jumped $2.79, or 4.3 percent, to $67.22. Brent crude, the worldwide standard, slid 48 cents to $53.45 a barrel in London.

The euro rose sharply against the dollar as the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.00%, while rates in the marginal lending facility and deposit facility were also maintained at 0.25% and -0.4% respectively. As doubts about the effectiveness of OPEC’s production cut deal continued to rise, the EIA reported a 2.4mln-barrel fall in commercial inventories for the week to December 2. That was the largest percentage gain of any major index on Wednesday.