the s&p 500, dow jones industrial average and nasdaq composite climbed to a trifecta of records monday as stocks extended their postelection rally. investors have piled into banks, health-care stocks and industrials on bets that president-elect donald trump would loosen regulation and boost infrastructure spending . at the same time, they have pulled back from treasurys and their stock-market proxies, which are less attractive to investors when interest rates rise. on monday, stocks rose broadly, led by gains in energy shares as u.s. oil prices reached their highest levels in three weeks. <u+201c>the market<u+2019>s been ripping since the election,<u+201d> said bill costello, portfolio manager at westwood holdings group. hopes that the trump administration would usher in a pro-business, pro-growth environment are driving stocks higher yet, mr. costello added. the dow industrials rose 88.76 points, or 0.5%, to 18956.69, above its nov. 15 closing record of 18923.06. the s&p 500 rose 16.28 points, or 0.7%, to 2198.18, closing above its aug. 15 record of 2190.15. the nasdaq composite added 47.35 points, or 0.9%, to 5368.86, passing its record of 5339.52 reached on sept. 22. the last time the three major indexes closed at records on the same day was aug. 15. some investors cautioned that the stock market<u+2019>s postelection gains have been built on assumptions that policies favorable to certain industries will be implemented in the coming year. <u+201c>based on market fundamentals, it<u+2019>s not justified,<u+201d> said michael cuggino, president and portfolio manager of the permanent portfolio family of funds, who called corporate-revenue growth in the previous quarter <u+201c>lackluster.<u+201d> while many investors are optimistic, <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t have anything concrete so far,<u+201d> mr. cuggino added. and stocks are more expensive now than they were three weeks ago, he said. the s&p 500 was trading at 20.1 times its past 12 months of earnings friday, compared with 19.5 times on election day and its 10-year average of 15.7, according to the wsj market data group. the shares of financial companies have led much of the charge that sent major u.s. indexes to fresh records on monday. investors have been betting that a trump presidency would usher in an era of looser financial regulations and higher interest rates. both would benefit banks, whose net-interest margins<u+2014>a key measure of lending profitability<u+2014>rise with rates. shares of financial companies accounted for 54% of the s&p 500<u+2019>s gains from election day through monday, according to s&p dow jones indices. five stocks<u+2014>those of wells fargo , bank of america , j.p. morgan chase, berkshire hathaway and citigroup <u+2014>accounted for more than a quarter of the broad index<u+2019>s gains through that period. the group<u+2019>s surge is a stark turnaround from the first half of this year, when the sector lagged behind the broader market as investors worried about sluggish u.s. economic growth and ultralow interest rates. financial shares rose 0.3% in the s&p 500 on monday, with affiliated managers group , charles schwab and bank of america posting the biggest percentage gains. a rise in industrials shares helped the dow reach records before the other indexes. the blue-chip index has added 3.4% since nov. 8<u+2014>compared with the s&p 500<u+2019>s 2.7% gain<u+2014>and closed at its fourth consecutive record on nov. 15. caterpillar , which rose 56 cents, or 0.6%, to $92.90 on monday, has added 9.7% since election day. expectations of higher growth, inflation and interest rates have at the same time hurt the appeal of u.s. government debt, sending yields higher. inflation chips away bonds<u+2019> fixed returns over time. <u+201c>our bond guys said the implementation of trump<u+2019>s platform will result in stronger economic growth, stronger inflation, and the fed will tighten rates,<u+201d> said phil orlando, chief equity market strategist at federated investors . <u+201c>when we saw that, we immediately increased our equity allocation and took it out of treasurys,<u+201d> he said, favoring economically sensitive u.s. stocks such as financials and industrials instead. the yield on the 10-year treasury note declined to 2.335% monday from 2.337% friday, but is up from 1.867% on election day. bond yields fall when prices rise. write to akane otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and riva gold at riva.gold@wsj.com
u.s. stocks close at record highs   - wsj
riva gold