The Nasdaq edged up to a third straight record high as solid earnings from toymaker Hasbro and others kicked off a heavy week of quarterly results.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finished at 5,218.86, up 8.72 points (0.17 per cent) on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13.96 (0.08 per cent) at 18,100.41, while the broad-based S&P 500 also flirted with an all-time high before finishing up 1.64 (0.08 per cent) at 2,128.28, about 2.5 points below the record set on May 21.
Hasbro surged 6.3 per cent on a 25 per cent rise in second-quarter earnings to $US41.8 million ($A56.64 million). Popular products included games and other toys based around the “Jurassic World” movie and various Marvel superhero blockbusters.
Oil-services giant Halliburton rose 1.8 per cent after reporting second-quarter earnings of 44 cents per share, better than the 29 cents that analysts had projected. Net earnings, however, were just $US54 million due to the petroleum industry downturn, down from $US774 million a year ago.
Earnings reports are due later this week from numerous companies, including Apple, General Motors and Boeing.
Several larger technology stocks gained, including Amazon (+1.1 per cent), Apple (+1.9 per cent), Facebook (+3.1 per cent) and Priceline (+2.6 per cent).
Leading US petroleum producers including Apache (-3.5 per cent), EOG (-3.2 per cent) and Continental Resources (-3.4 per cent) declined on falling prices for both oil and natural gas. Dow member ExxonMobil lost 1.0 per cent.
Lockheed Martin rose 2.0 per cent as it announced it was acquiring the iconic helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies for $US9 billion. Dow member United Technologies dropped 0.2 per cent.
Rooftop solar company Vivint Solar surged 44.8 per cent on news it will be acquired by SunEdison for $US2.2 billion. SunEdison rose 0.3 per cent.
Chipmaker Micron Technology fell 6.1 per cent on concerns about a possible acquisition of the company by Tsinghua Unigroup of China due to expectations of tough scrutiny by US regulators over such a deal.
Online payments company PayPal Holdings rose 5.4 per cent in its first day as a free-standing firm following its spin-off from eBay. EBay gained 2.4 per cent.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.38 per cent from 2.35 per cent on Friday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.10 per cent from 3.08 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
