U.S. stocks climb with Macy's; Dow and S&P 500 set record finishes

U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 finishing at records, as investors embraced consumer-discretionary shares after upbeat earnings from retailing giant Macy's helped foster optimism about holiday shopping.

Erasing a 78-point deficit, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to an intraday record of 15,822.98, before finishing with a gain of 70.96 points, or 0.5 percent, at 15,821.63, above its prior closing record set Monday, with Microsoft and Home Depot pacing blue-chip gains that included all but six of its 30 components.
The S&P 500 also advanced, adding 14.31 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,782, above its Oct. 29 closing record and Oct. 30 intraday record. Consumer discretionary and technology were the best performing of its 10 major industry groups.

The Nasdaq was the first of the three benchmarks to step into positive terrain, after closing fractionally higher on Tuesday. On Wednesday it jumped 45.66 points, or 1.2 percent, to end at 3,965.58.


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