NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks posted slight gains Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to another record, helped by shares of telecommunications companies such as Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.
Small companies and bank stocks also rose as investors continue to speculate U.S. economic growth will pick up under the incoming Trump administration.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.54 points, or 0.2 percent, to 19,251.78, a record high close. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.52 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,212.23 and the Nasdaq composite rose 24.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,333.
Telecommunications stocks were among the biggest gainers, helped by a myriad of company-specific news. Dow member Verizon climbed 61 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.36 and AT&T rose 72 cents, or 2 percent, to $39.35. Overall, the telecom sector of the S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent.
AT&T rose following reports its newly launched DirectTV Now service was attracting more subscribers than anticipated, while Verizon rose as the company sold a group of data centers for $3.6 billion.
Separately, Sprint and T-Mobile gained after President-elect Donald Trump said that Japanese company Softbank, which owns the majority of Sprint, was going to invest $50 billion in the U.S. to create 50,000 jobs over the next four years. However, it's not clear if Softbank's announcement is new. T-Mobile shares rose on speculation it could be acquired in de-regulatory Trump White House, possibly by SoftBank.
Sprint jumped 12 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $8.17, while T-Mobile rose 97 cents, or roughly 2 percent, to $55.99.
Bank stocks also continued to perform well, as they have since the election. The financial services sector of the S&P 500 closed up 1 percent, far more than the broader market. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of mostly smaller companies, rose 1.1 percent to a new record as well.
Boeing's stock dropped briefly after President-elect Trump said he believed the U.S. government should cancel an anticipated order for new Air Force One planes, claiming the project is too expensive. The Air Force has not contracted out the new Air Force One planes, however Boeing does have a $170 million viability contract with the Air Force to determine the capabilities of the next version of Air Force One. Boeing had been down as much as 1 percent earlier in the day, only to close mostly unchanged at $152.24.