Stocks Open Up, Dow Nears Record High
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are rising in early trading Tuesday, putting the market on track for another milestone. The Dow Jones industrial average is near its previous record close a day after the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a new high. The Nasdaq composite index, which has lagged the two main U.S. market barometers, turned slightly positive for the year.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow was up 75 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,301 at 10:20 a.m. Eastern time. That is just 11 points below its previous high reached in May last year. The S&P 500 gained 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,148. The Nasdaq rose 29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,018.
PROFIT PICTURE: Company earnings reports got off to a good start. Aluminum maker Alcoa jumped 3.4 percent after reporting earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations. The stock rose 34 cents to $10.49.
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SEAGATE SURGE: Seagate Technology jumped $4.45, or 19 percent, to $28.54 after forecasting strong sales. It also announced it will cut 6,500 jobs, about 14 percent of its total.
JAPAN JUMPS: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index surged 2.5 percent, a day after soaring 4 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised new government spending to help jolt Asia's second-biggest economy back to life now that his Liberal Democratic Party has won parliamentary elections. Investors are betting he'll keep flooding the market with money by expanding bond purchases.
THE QUOTE: "His victory has brought more hope to the market that we will probably see a new round of 'Abenomics' soon," said Margaret Yang of CMC Markets in Singapore.
ELSEWHERE IN ASIA: South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.7 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent.
EUROPE GAINS: France's CAC 40 rose 1.7 percent and Germany's DAX added 1.4 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.
POKEMON POWER: Shares of Nintendo Co. jumped 12.7 percent in Tokyo, fueled by the craze for "Pokemon Go," a smartphone game that's become the top grossing app in the iPhone store less than a week after its release in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 77 cents to $45.53 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a standard for international oil prices, rose $1 to $47.25a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bonds fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.48 percent from 1.43 percent on Monday. The dollar rose to 104.40 yen from 102.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1090 from $1.1058.
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