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U.S. stocks trade at record highs amid earnings reports

Xinhua, February 22, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday, notching fresh record highs, as investors mainly focused on a slew of corporate earnings.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 63.07 points, or 0.31 percent, to 20,687.12. The S&P 500 rose 8.62 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,359.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.29 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,852.86.

Shares of Macy's rose over two percent in the morning trading, after the retail giant posted quarterly financial results before the opening bell on Tuesday.

Macy's reported fourth quarter 2016 earnings per diluted share of 1.54 U.S. dollars, beating market estimates, but sales fell short on forecast.

Home Depot, another retail giant, also released quarterly results on Tuesday. The home improvement retailer reported sales of 22.2 billion dollars for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 and net earnings of 1.7 billion dollars, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 7.5 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.3 percent.

The market was closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

U.S. stocks continued to be on a record-setting trajectory for the past week, with all three major indices closing at record highs for three times out of the five sessions, as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks and a batch of economic data from the country. Enditem