The Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed to a new record, even as investors punished some tech names after Tesla earnings disappointed.
The Dow on Wednesday jumped 128.66 (0.82 per cent) to 15,746.88, busting a previous record from October 29.
The broad-based S&P 500 also closed 7.52 (0.43 per cent) higher at 1,770.49, narrowly missing another record, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.92 (0.20 per cent) to 3,931.95.
Electric-car company Tesla, which has risen more than four-fold in 2013, fell 14.5 per cent after the company missed profit and revenue expectations.
But the poor Tesla report turned sentiment against a number of other companies such as Facebook (-2.0 per cent), Netflix (-1.7 per cent) and Priceline (-2.2 per cent) that have surged in recent months.
“Money is leaving the Nasdaq and it’s going into cyclical, industrial stocks,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
Not all Nasdaq components fell. EBay rose 4.3 per cent, while Google edged 0.1 per cent higher.
The biggest winner in the Dow was Microsoft – also a Nasdaq stock – which jumped 4.2 per cent following a report the company has narrowed its short list of possible chief executives and is considering Ford chief Alan Mulally for the top spot.
Other big blue-chip gains came from General Electric (+1.8 per cent), UnitedHealth Group (+2.3 per cent), and oil companies Chevron (+2.3 per cent) and ExxonMobil (+1.3 per cent).
Clothing company Ralph Lauren rose 4.3 per cent rose 5.5 per cent after earnings bested analyst expectations by 3 US cents at $US2.23 per share. The company also boosted its revenue forecast.
Oil and gas company Chesapeake Energy fell 6.8 per cent on a weak production outlook. Deutsche Bank said the forecast implied a sequential decline in output of oil.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury slipped to 2.64 per cent from 2.66 per cent Tuesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.77 per cent from 3.76 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
