Wall Street advances for 6th straight session

Nasdaq gained 0.7 per cent, to close the session at 6,205.26. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street rose to fresh records on Thursday (May 25), with US stocks seeing their sixth straight winning finish amid persistent investor enthusiasm.

But oil shares did not join the party, with crude prices tumbling as markets showed disappointment at producing countries' decision on Thursday not to deepen output limits.

The tech rich Nasdaq gained 0.7 per cent, to close the session at 6,205.26, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to end at 2,415.07 - fresh all-time highs for both and the 19th new record for the S&P so far this year.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 per cent to end the day at 21,082.95.

Karl Haeling of LBBW said the buoyancy of the markets was feeding on itself.

"It sounds a little bit funny but the main reason the market is going up is because it is going up," he said.

Electronics retailer Best Buy had a stellar trading day, surging 21.5 per cent after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.

Other retailers also rose, with Nordstrom adding 1.2 per cent and Sears, which recently said it risks going out of business, adding 13.5 per cent after its first profitable quarter in almost two years.

JC Penney also edged 0.2 per cent higher, but S&P Dow Jones announced the company would be removed from the S&P MidCap 400 due to declining market value.

In Vienna, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday decided to extend a November agreement on production cuts but refrained from slashing output further - causing benchmark crude for July delivery to slip below US$49 per barrel in New York.

Chevron fell 1 per cent, ConocoPhilips gave up 3.5 per cent and Exxon Mobil shed 0.7 per cent.

Financials stocks also ebbed, with Goldman Sachs giving up 0.6 per cent and JPMorgan Chase falling 0.4 per cent.

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