S&P 500 propelled to record high by strong earnings season - Business Insider

The S&P 500 index climbed as much as 0.6% on Monday to an intraday record high of 3,041.81, beating its previous record of 3,027.98 set July 26.The gains came amid better-than-expected corporate earnings from stocks like Walgreens Boots Alliance and AT&T.The index also got a boost as heavily weighted Microsoft hit an all-time high.About 50% of S&P 500 firms have reported earnings and the results are about 2% above consensus estimates, Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients on Monday. Track the S&P 500 index on Markets Insider.The S&P 500 climbed to a record intraday high amid stronger-than-expected corporate earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance and AT&T. Heavily weighted Microsoft also reached a record.Here's a look at the major indexes as of the 10:30 a.m on Monday: The S&P 500 gained 0.66%, to 3,042.43.The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.70%, to 27,147.87.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.87%, to 8,314.99.Microsoft hit an all-time high after the company secured a cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon worth $10 billion. AT&T rose more than 3% on an earnings beat and the release of a new plan to meet activist investor Elliot Management's goals. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, S&P 500 earnings have come in about 2% above consensus estimates. About 50% of firms within the index have reported so far, the firm said. The record high also comes a little more than a week after Apple's market value climbed back above $1 trillion amid robust demand for new iPhone models. The S&P 500 is up more than 21% year-to-date.

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