Wall St. Gains with Winning Week, New Dow Record

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth consecutive gain, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average achieving another record high.

Markets have been volatile in recent weeks, initially losing ground ahead of November’s elections, surging after Donald Trump’s victory, and then falling again. I Photo: New York Stock Exchange Facebook

The S&P 500 rose by 0.3%, with the benchmark index’s 1.7% weekly gain erasing most of its loss from the previous week, according to Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga of the Associated Press (AP).

The Dow rose 1%, surpassing its recent high set last week, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%.

Markets have been volatile in recent weeks, initially losing ground ahead of November’s elections, surging after Donald Trump’s victory, and then falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily climbing this week and is now within 0.5% of its all-time high set last week.

“Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” said Mark Hackett, Chief of Investment Research at Nationwide, in a statement.

Several retailers saw notable gains after providing positive financial updates. Gap soared 12.8% after surpassing analysts’ third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations while raising its annual revenue forecast.

Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 2.2% after upgrading its earnings outlook for the year.