New York: US stocks were little changed on Tuesday, as investors paused after a strong rally, but the Dow and S&P 500 managed to edge up to set fresh intraday records for a fifth straight session.
On Monday, the benchmark S&P index had set its 39th new closing high for the year, versus 45 in 2013. The last time the index closed at a record high in four consecutive days was in June, while the last five-day streak was in May 2013.
The benchmark index has rallied more than 9 percent since hitting a six-month low in October, buoyed by supportive economic data and solid corporate earnings reports. For the year, the index is up over 10 percent.
"At a time when the bulk of earnings season is behind us, the kind of calm market we are seeing this week is to be expected," said David Lebovitz, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds in New York.
"That being said, we have come pretty far, pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the market consolidate a little, in the form of hovering around here or pulling back a little bit."
Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning showed that of 449 companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings, 74.6 percent beat expectations, above the 63 percent beat rate since 1994 and 67 percent for the past four quarters. Earnings overall are expected to grow 10 percent over the year-ago period.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.32 points, or 0.13 percent, to 17,636.06, the S&P 500 gained 2.97 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,041.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.65 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,656.27.
D.R. Horton rose 1.4 percent to $23.75 after the largest U.S. homebuilder reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue but earnings missed Wall Street expectations. The PHLX housing index gained 0.8 percent.
U.S. economic data was spare on Tuesday due to the U.S. Veterans Day holiday, which also served to keep volume light.
Cable providers remained under pressure for a second straight session, after U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Internet service providers should be regulated more like public utilities. Time Warner Cable lost 3.7 percent to $131.41, Comcast fell 2.1 percent to $51.84 and Cablevision declined 2.2 percent to $18.19.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd`s finance services arm "will definitely go public," Executive Chairman Jack Ma said on Tuesday, eyeing a mainland China listing for the e-commerce company`s crown jewel. In addition, its Singles` Day sales broke through the $8 billion mark. But shares lost 4 percent to $114.36.
Zynga shares jumped 5.6 percent to $2.62 after Jefferies raised its rating to "buy" from "hold" with a $4.50 price target.
