Investing.com - Stocks moved modestly higher Tuesday but still closed at new highs Tuesday thanks to strong reports on housing starts and manufacturing. The market's positive finish was its fifth in a row.
The S&P 500 finished up 0.03% after hitting a new intraday peak of 3,198.22. The Dow Jones industrials added 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100, up 0.06%, hit a new intraday high.
The market opened higher but slowly gave up more than half its early gains.
Still, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq are now looking at four-straight months of gains en route to their best annual performances since 2013.
Helping stocks were bullish reports on housing starts in November and factory output. The housing report from the Commerce Department showed single-family starts are up nearly 17% year over year and offers a big reason a National Association of Home Builders survey on Monday showed builder confidence at the highest levels since 1999.
Factory output rebounded by more than forecast in November and rose excluding a surge in auto production following the end of the General Motors (NYSE:GM) strike, Bloomberg News noted.
Financial, consumer discretionary and utility stocks were the top S&P 500 sectors. Real estate, technology and health care were the weakest.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) were among the top Dow stocks. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up slightly after a new intraday high.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) was down slightly. Late Monday, the company announced it will shut down production of its 737 Max airliner while it awaits government recertification.
United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), a key supplier, was among the biggest Dow losers.
Oil prices were higher with West Texas Intermediate finishing above $60 a barrel for a third-straight day.
Interest rates were mostly lower. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.885% from 1.889% on Monday.
Gold was flat, but palladium prices tumbled.