Infrastructure vote sends Dow, S&P to record high
The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs Tuesday as infrastructure stocks took flight with the Senate's approval of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.
The Dow rose 162 points. The S&P 500 gained 4. But the Nasdaq languished - giving up 72points.
Randy Watts is chief investment officer at O'Neil Global Advisors.
"I think the infrastructure bill makes investors feel that there might be more fiscal stimulus coming both this year and next. I think that fiscal stimulus is needed to keep the economy growing rapidly. If that happens, value stocks should do better."
The bill – which the House still needs to approve - could result in the biggest U.S. spending in decades for bridges, roads, airports and waterways.
With that in mind, investors bet on infrastructure equipment stocks like heavy-duty earth mover Caterpillar. That stock was up 2.3 percent.
John Deere, another possible infrastructure play, was up about 2 percent.
Steel stocks like Nucor surged roughly 9-1/2 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway put a $27 billion offer on the table for Kansas City Southern, hoping antitrust concerns will make it a more attractive suitor for a railroad merger. There's already a rival bid at $29 billion offered by Canadian National Railway. Investors are hoping for a duel that will push the price even higher. Shares of Kansas City jumped more than 7 percent.
AMC lived up to its 'meme stock' status. Rising then falling to end the day lower. The theater chain posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, inked a deal with Warner Bros., and announced it plans to start accepting bitcoin for movie tickets and popcorn by the end of the year. Shares of AMC ended the day down by 6 percent - but the Reddit darling is up 1,400 percent year-to-date.
