U.S. stocks on the 12th saw buying gain some momentum ahead of earnings announcements, sending the Dow higher for a 3rd straight day. The Dow stood at a closing level of $51,850.55, up $195.60 from the previous day.
Buying gained momentum in early trading on Monday in the New York stock market ahead of earnings announcements from major companies, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher for a 3rd straight day. The Dow closed at $51,850.55, up $195.60 from the previous day. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, closed at 27,245.90, down 120.27 points. NYSE volume fell from the previous Friday to 1,035,420,000 shares.
Crude oil prices maintained their gains early the same day, with WTI rising into the $94-per-barrel range. The move was apparently driven by the impact of developments in the Middle East over the weekend and supply-and-demand conditions in the oil market. Ahead of the start of the U.S. earnings season, investors focused their buying on retail and consumer goods stocks.
Among technology stocks, an upward revision to Salesforce's share-price outlook and Microsoft's plan to deploy large quantities of its own semiconductors provided positive catalysts, while declines in semiconductor stocks weighed on the broader market. Among Dow components, Salesforce, Coca-Cola and Walmart rose, while Cisco Systems and NVIDIA fell.