A mixed open for US stocks on Wall Street as energy slumps

US stocks are climbing again, led by gains in banks, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to another record high.

The S&P 500 index, which also reached an intraday trading high, closed at a record of 2,241.35, a gain of 29.12 points, or 1.3%, with all sectors except the health care – which finished down 0.8% – closing for a gain.

The S&P 500 was up 3.52 points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,208.23 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 3.36 points, or 0.06 percent, at 5,312.25. Dow member Verizon climbed 61 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.36 and AT&T rose 72 cents, or 2 percent, to $39.35.

The S&P 500 is up 160.77 points, or 7.9 percent. The Russell recovered from an early loss to gain 9 points, or 0.7 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.36 percent from 2.39 percent. As that happens, odds are we’ll get better stock prices than we have today, but with the underlying companies facing more favorable growth prospects over the medium term should President-elect Trump’s policies have the expected impact in 2017 and beyond.

A modest upturn in afternoon trading was enough to deliver record high closes for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Russell 2000 index, which tracks small and mid-sized companies.

The S&P 500 and the Dow were little changed on Tuesday, weighed down by energy stocks, while gains in technology companies boosted the Nasdaq. Home improvement retailer Lowe’s rose $3.94, or 5.4 per cent, to $76.40 and truck maker Paccar jumped $3.20, or 5 per cent, to $67.63.

WTI light sweet crude oil for January was down 86 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at$50.93/bbl on Nymex.

Brent crude prices fell over 2 percent, the first decline in five days, after data showed an increase in output from major producers, just days after OPEC and Russian Federation agreed to a production cut. Customer-management software developer Salesforce.com climbed $2.78, or 4.1 per cent, to $71.19.

Other major European indexes finished higher. Elsewhere, Pfizer gave up 81 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $30.75 and Johnson & Johnson fell $2.42, or 2.2 percent, to $109.64. The No. 1 US wireless carrier is selling 29 data centers to Equinix for $3.6 billion.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Asian indices look set to see moderate gains on the back of the euphoria that stems from USA and European markets”. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.54%. Energy Transfer Partners lost 59 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $33.79 and Sunoco Logistics shed 43 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $22.75.

CURRENCIES: In currencies, the euro fell to $1.0719 from $1.0781 the day before. Italy’s FTSE MIB index fell 0.2%. Stock traders are digesting the latest economic data, including a 3.1% rise in USA productivity in the third quarter – unchanged from initial estimates – and an 18% rise in the US trade deficit in October.

Economic news:Consumer credit in October (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/growth-of-consumer-borrowing-slows-a-bit- in-october-2016-12-07) rose $16 billion, but that was at the slowest pace since June.