Where no Dow has gone before, the 22,000 barrier

From the top:

• Dow closes at record, 22,000 in striking distance
• Apple third consecutive quarter of accelarated growth

The Dow closed at a record up 72 points or 0.3% at 21,963 captivating the market as it approaches the 22,000 barrier and breakout pushing up the Dow Jones Composite were Apple up +6.11%, Intel +2.48% and Chevron +1.46%.

The S&P 500 edged up slightly 6 points or 0.2% to 2,476.35 just shy of its record high last week. Putting the index under pressure were Under Armour which fell sharply -10.38%. Electronic office equipment was a poor performer today down -15.44%, alternative fuels fell -3.56% as did automobiles -2.24%.

• Dow 21,963 +0.33%
• S&P 500 2,476 +0.24%
• Nasdaq 6,362 +0.23%
• Russell 2000 1,428 +0.22%
• NYSE Composite 12,000 +0.27%
• Gold 1,274 +0.11%
• Oil WTI $51 -2.33%
• 10-Year Treasury Yield 2.29% -0.04%

   

Apple store Source: Shutterstock.com

Apple report better-than-expected earnings

Apple released its third quarter financial results ending 1 July after the closing bell on Tuesday. Revenue jumped 7% to $45.4bn and robust earnings per diluted share growth of 17% of $1.67. This is compared to third quarter a year ago of revenue of $42,4bn  and earnings per diluted share of $1.42.

International sales accounted for 61% of revenue which was up 7% year over year. There was growth in all of its product categories. Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned $11.7 billion to investors during the quarter, bringing cumulative capital returns under our program to almost $223bn.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter of revenue between $49bn and $52 bn, a gross margin between 37.5% and 38% and operting expenses between $6.7bn and $6.8bn.