Stocks rise to record highs, now on a six-week winning streak

Wall Street capped a week with no shortage of milestones with a few more Friday.

U.S. stocks closed higher, lifting the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its fifth record close in a row. The Dow Jones industrial average, which crossed past the 23,000 mark for the first time Wednesday, also finished the day with its fifth-straight all-time high.

Banks led the winners Friday. Technology companies also posted big gains, helping to drive the Nasdaq composite to a record high.

The latest milestones came as investors drew encouragement from the Senate’s passage of a budget bill that is expected to ease the path for the White House’s tax-cut proposal.

“Market expectations for an impactful tax reform have been running fairly low,” said Mike Baele, managing director at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. “That changed a bit today with the Senate passing the budget resolution for 2018.”

The S&P 500 index rose 13.11 points, or 0.5%, to 2,575.21. The Dow gained 165.59 points, or 0.7%, to 23,328.63. The Nasdaq composite added 23.99 points, or 0.4%, to 6,629.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 7.20 points, or 0.5%, to 1,509.25.

The S&P 500 and the Dow are now on a six-week winning streak.

Should tax cuts pass, it’s also a good bet that interest rates will move higher, which will benefit banks and other financial companies. That’s one reason banks and bond yields rose Friday.

Higher bond yields allow banks to charge higher interest rates on mortgages and other loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.38% from 2.32% late Thursday.

Synchrony Financial gained $1.33, or 4.2%, to $33.04. Citizens Financial Group picked up 90 cents, or 2.4%, to $38.33. Both also reported higher quarterly earnings than analysts had been expecting.

PayPal Holdings climbed 5.5% after the payment technology company reported big gains in new users and transactions. The stock rose $3.72 to $70.97.

While still early in the third quarter, strong earnings helped push the market higher this week.

Just under 12% of S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results through Friday. Of those, 78% reported earnings and revenue that beat financial analysts’ estimates, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Skechers USA soared 41.4% after the shoe company said its profit and sales were stronger than analysts expected. The stock rose $9.96 to $33.99.

Atlassian jumped $9.92, or 24.6%, to $50.17. The business software company’s earnings and revenue beat Wall Street’s forecasts. It also raised its forecast.

Oil prices closed higher after wavering between small gains and losses for much of the day. Benchmark U.S. crude added 18 cents to settle at $51.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 52 cents to $57.75 a barrel in London.

Gold fell $9.50 to $1,280.50 an ounce. Silver lost 18 cents to $17.09 an ounce. Copper was little changed at $3.17 a pound.

The dollar strengthened to 113.50 yen from 112.65 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.1780 from $1.1830.

UPDATES:

2:40 p.m.: This article has been updated with closing stock prices.

The article was originally published at 8 a.m.