Wall St: Blue chips charge to another record

The Dow industrials and S&P 500 on Tuesday rallied to fresh highs, kicking off the second half of the year on a bullish note. The rally took the Dow just shy of 17000, which would be the next milestone in a more-than-five-year rally for stocks after their financial-crisis declines. While the market's march to records has many investors less enthusiastic about paying high prices, they remain generally positive on stocks, thanks to expectations interest rates will stay low and the U.S. economy is growing modestly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 129.47 points, or 0.8%, to a record 16956.07, after also notching a record intraday high of 16998.70. Tuesday’s close marked the 12th record for the Dow this year, and it leaves the 30-stock index of blue chips up 2.3% for 2014. The S&P 500 index added 13.09 points, or 0.7%, to 1973.32, with the widely followed benchmark chalking up its 23rd record close of the year. The broader S&P has fared better than the Dow, gaining 6.8% in 2014. The Nasdaq Composite Index, meanwhile, gained 50.47 points, or 1.1%, to 4458.65. Traders said there was no particular news behind Tuesday's rally, according to AFP.