Wall Street Ends Higher as Dow Edges to Latest Record<br />There’s no reason to be a seller yet and there’s no reason to be a buyer at these levels as earnings season winds down<br />and you don’t have much in the way of economic news this week," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.<br />Analysts, on average, expect S&P 500 earnings to have expanded 12 percent in the second quarter<br />and project earnings up 9.3 percent for the September quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.<br />NEW YORK — The Dow edged up to its ninth record closing high in a row while the S&P ended slightly higher on Monday, with consumer<br />and technology sector gains offsetting losses in energy.<br />Yet trading volume was relatively light as investors had little reason to make big bets with the U. S. Congress<br />and President Donald Trump on vacation and a stronger-than-expected earnings season drawing to a close.<br />The S&P, which is up about 11 percent this year, is trading at 18 times expected earnings,<br />compared to its 10-year average of 14, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.<br />The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.61 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 22,118.42.<br />Some investors were looking into underperforming sectors, including retail, anticipating a lift from in-store back-to-school<br />shopping, according to Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.
