US stock indexes close mostly higher

Staff/wire report

Gains by health care companies led U.S. stock indexes mostly higher Tuesday, pushing the market further into record territory.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly climbed above the 23,000 mark for the first time, settling just below the milestone. Slight gains nudged the Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes to new highs for the second-straight day this week.

“It’s a good sign emotionally,” said Mike Ciccone, investment consultant for Diamante Capital of Poland, of the 23,000 mark. “Most investors like when they see those benchmarks or those points in the market. It’s one of those things, for me personally, you have to be somewhat concerned that there may be a correction coming soon.”

Ciccone and other local advisers advise investors to stay diversified and disciplined with their investment portfolios.

“We think long term we will continue with a secular bull market,” said Carl Heltzel, financial adviser at Raymond James Financial Services in Canfield.

Health care companies posted some of the biggest gains following strong earnings from UnitedHealth Group and Johnson & Johnson. News of a plan backed by the White House that would extend federal payments to health insurers also gave the sector a boost. Banks and other financial stocks declined the most. Packaged food and beverage companies were also big laggards.

Trading was mostly listless as investors sized up the latest company earnings news and looked ahead to a full slate of corporate report cards later this week.

“Expectations of ongoing earnings growth are reasonably strong, but there may be a bit of a wait-and-see at this point in time given the run in the equity markets,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede.