Todd Bishop
On May 16, US stocks closed higher and the Dow rose more than 210 points. The strong earnings of some companies announced on the day and the better economic data are the main reasons for the rise in US stocks.
The three major US stock indexes rose slightly, the Dow rose 0.84% to 25,862 points; the S&P 500 index rose 0.89% to 2,876 points; the Nasdaq rose 0.97% to 7,885 points.
Cisco (CSCO) closed up 6.66%, becoming the Dow 30 constituent stock with the biggest gain. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) climbed 2.4% after the company reported its best first-quarter earnings in nine years.
Wal-Mart announced that its first-quarter earnings exceeded expectations, and said that although the operating environment in the second quarter was more difficult than the same period last year, the company is in a “good position” and is expected to achieve its 2019 performance target.
Cisco also announced that its earnings exceeded expectations and issued strong revenue guidance.
At the same time, the US Department of Commerce reported that the number of new homes in the United States rose to 1.24 million in April, after economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the number to be 1.21 million.
