By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks posted modest gains on
Monday, with the S&P 500 notching its 23rd record close this
year, as the financial and health-care sectors led the market
higher.
The S&P 500 index (SPX) added 3.44 points, or 0.2%, to end
at 1,695.53, rising for a fourth straight session. The financial
sector was the top gainer and energy was the top decliner among its
10 major sectors.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 12.77 points, or 0.4%, to
3,600.39.
"I'm still in a neutral mode for the week. We should have a
sideways week, but every time I thought that, we've gone slightly
higher," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading
and derivatives at Charles Schwab.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 1.81 points to
15,545.55, finishing slightly below its record close of 15,548.54
hit on July 18.
Leading the Dow higher, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) rose 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively,
Fast-food chain McDonald's (MCD) led blue-chip declines, with
its shares off 2.7% after the release of its second-quarter
earnings. The company said its "results for the remainder of the
year are expected to remain challenged."
McDonald's is "a big component of the market because it's a very
big company; it's the only real drag on the Dow today," said
Frederick, who noted that International Business Machines Corp.'s
(IBM) rebound from its slide last week was helping to neutralize
McDonald's impact. IBM shares gained 0.3%.
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) shares fell 4.3% on news that Dan Loeb of
Third Point is stepping down from the board and unwinding a part of
the hedge fund's stake in the search engine. (Read more on Monday
movers:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mondays-movers-himax-technologies-newmont-2013-07-22.)
More than 580 million shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange. Composite volume topped 2.7 billion, below the one-month
average.
Monday's economic reports had existing-home sales falling 1.2%
to 5.08 million in June. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected
sales to have risen 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted rate
of 5.28 million.
"Despite the decline, this is still one of the strongest gains
seen during the recovery," noted Dan Greenhaus, chief global
strategist at BTIG LLC, in emailed commentary.
Stock-index futures on Monday offered little reaction to the
Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index, which rose to
negative 0.13 in June from negative 0.29 in May.
The dollar (DXY) declined against the currencies of major U.S.
trading partners including the yen (USDJPY), while the yield on the
10-year Treasury note (10_YEAR) held steady at 2.493%.
The price of crude(CLQ3) fell $1.14, or 1.1%, to settle at
$106.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The price of gold (GCQ3) jumped 3.3% to $1,336 an ounce on the
Comex, its biggest one-day gain in more than a year and its first
close above $1,300 in almost five weeks.
A Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday will begin to review a
practice that allows deposit-taking banks to trade physical
commodities, including oil and metal. The Federal Reserve is
reconsidering exemptions that let lenders such as Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. (GS) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) store,
transport and own physical assets such as oil and metal. Read how
Goldman is in the spotlight for warehousing aluminum.
The S&P 500 on Friday capped a fourth week of gains to close
at an all-time high.
"With the first major week of earnings behind us, a few things
are quite clear. First, earnings are not coming in as badly as
feared," said Greenhaus of results from roughly 100 S&P 500
companies.
Dominated by financials, last week's earnings reports were
"almost all better than expected," and as a result, "overall
expected earnings growth for the S&P saw its first move higher
in some time," Greenhaus added.
On Monday, Halliburton Co. (HAL) reported a drop in quarterly
profit, with shares of the oil-field services company off 1.6%.
Hasbro Inc. (HAS)reported second-quarter results below
expectations, hit by a sharp decline in the sale of toys for boys.
Last week, competitor Mattel Inc. (MAT) reported a drop in
second-quarter net income, which was dented by weakness in Barbie
sales.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) reported results after the close Monday.
On Tuesday, earnings from Apple Inc. (AAPL) are expected to
throw some light on consumer-spending habits as its sales are
driven by discretionary purchases. A lackluster earnings report
from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) last week sent its shares tumbling 11%
on Friday, but they climbed 1.5% on Monday.
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