**Stocks Extend Gains as Dow Hits New Record High**
Stocks generally advanced during Tuesday's trading session, continuing the upward trend seen in the previous day. Notably, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made significant strides, reaching a new intraday high.
As it stands, the Dow is slightly below its session peak, climbing 567.45 points or 1.4% to 40,779.17. The S&P 500 has also increased by 15.06 points or 0.3% to 5,646.28. Conversely, the tech-centric Nasdaq has diverged from the upward trend, decreasing by 49.48 points or 0.3% to 18,423.09.
The positive sentiment on Wall Street is partially attributable to recent favorable earnings reports. Dow component UnitedHealth (UNH) experienced a sharp increase after exceeding second-quarter earnings expectations. Similarly, Bank of America (BAC) saw a notable uptick following better-than-expected earnings for the same period. Morgan Stanley (MS) shares also turned positive after initially dipping despite reporting strong second-quarter earnings.
Investors also responded well to recent U.S. economic data. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales remained flat in June, following a revised 0.3% increase in May. This met economists' expectations of unchanged figures from an initially reported 0.1% rise in the prior month. Excluding a steep decline in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales rose by 0.4% in June, surpassing the modest 0.1% increase in May.
"Judging by the positive market reaction to the U.S. retail sales data, it appears that investors are focusing on economic strength for now, while also maintaining a strong belief that monetary policy will start to ease after the summer," remarked Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell.
The Labor Department also released data indicating that U.S. import prices were stable in June, contrary to expectations of a 0.2% rise. This followed a revised 0.2% decline in May. Export prices, however, fell by 0.5% in June, following a revised 0.7% decrease in May, contrary to the expected 0.1% dip.
**Sector Highlights**
Housing stocks demonstrated substantial gains, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index spiking by 3.8% to reach its highest intraday level in over three months. Optimism about future interest rates has buoyed the sector, despite a National Association of Home Builders report indicating an unexpected dip in homebuilder confidence for July.
Gold stocks also showed significant strength, driven by a sharp rise in gold prices, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.1%, its highest intraday level in over two years. Banking stocks similarly exhibited considerable strength, as evidenced by a 2.7% jump in the KBW Bank Index.
Other sectors, including airline, oil service, and biotechnology stocks, also saw notable gains, while software stocks trended downward.
**Global Markets**
Mixed performances were observed across the Asia-Pacific stock markets on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.2%, and China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 1.6%.
In contrast, major European markets all saw declines. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.7%, Germany's DAX Index decreased by 0.4%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2%.
**Bond Market**
Treasuries rebounded after a pullback in the previous session. Consequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which inversely relates to its price, declined by 4.1 basis points to 4.186%.
