Stocks Rising in Afternoon Trading as Dow Hits Record High

Stocks are rising in afternoon trading Tuesday, putting the market on track for another milestone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading above its record close a day after the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended at a new high. The Nasdaq composite turned slightly positive for the year.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow rose 123 points, or 0.7 percent, to 18,350 at 1:01 p.m. Eastern time. That is 38 points higher than its closing high in May last year. The S&P 500 gained 17 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,154. The Nasdaq rose 37 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,026.

PROFIT PICTURE: Aluminum maker Alcoa kicked off the second quarter earnings season on a positive note by reporting revenue and earnings that beat Wall Street expectations. The stock jumped 48 cents, or 5 percent, to $10.62. Earnings for the all of the S&P 500 is expected to fall compared to the year ago period, but then rise in the next quarter.

SEAGATE SURGE: Seagate Technology surged $5.18, or 22 percent, to $29.27 after forecasting strong sales. It also announced it will cut 6,500 jobs, about 14 percent of its total.

JAPAN JUMPS: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.5 percent, a day after soaring 4 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised new government spending to help jolt Asia’s second-biggest economy back to life now that his Liberal Democratic Party has won in parliamentary elections. Investors are betting he’ll keep flooding the market with money by expanding bond purchases.

THE QUOTE: “The combination of very low interest rates and modest earnings going forward and supportive central banks and now some indication of fiscal stimulus in Japan — the third largest economy — this is a mix that stock investors can support,” said James Russell, portfolio manager at investment firm Bayle & Gaynor. “Investors are heartened.”

ENERGY BOOST: Oil drillers and other energy companies are rising on a jump in oil prices. Six of the 10 biggest gainers in the S&P 500 are in the energy sector. Southwestern Energy jumped 11 percent, adding $1.47 to $14.37.

ASIAN GAINS: South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent.

EUROPEAN GAINS: France’s CAC 40 rose 1.6 percent and Germany’s DAX added 1.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat.

POKEMON POWER: Shares of Nintendo Co. jumped 12.7 percent in Tokyo.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added $1.86 to $46.62 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a standard for international oil prices, rose $1.99 to $48.24 a barrel in London.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bonds fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.51 percent from 1.43 percent on Monday. The dollar rose to 104.93 yen from 102.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1090 from $1.1058.