Dow hits another record as banks and oil continue to climb

NEW YORK — US stocks are resuming their climb yesterday, led by gains in bank stocks, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to another record high. Technology companies, which have weakened since the presidential election, recovered some of their recent losses. European stocks were mostly higher, but Italy's market fell after Italian voters rejected constitutional changes and the country's premier said he would resign.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 77 points, or 0.4 percent, to 19,247 as of 11:56 a.m. It closed at a record high Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 14 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,206. The Nasdaq composite climbed 51 points, or 1 percent, to 5,306. Small-company stocks on again outpaced the rest of the market.

RUSSELL RISING: Small-company stocks rose more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 jumped 18 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,332. Thanks to a big rally in November, the Russell is up 17 percent this year, or more than twice as much as the S&P 500. Smaller companies, which are more domestically focused than large multinationals, could stand to benefit more than larger companies from a pickup in US growth.

ENERGY: Oil prices continued to rise. Benchmark US oil rose 29 cents to $51.97 per barrel in New York, its highest price since July 2015. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 53 cents, or 1 percent, to $54.99 a barrel in London.

The rising price of oil sent energy companies higher. ConocoPhillips picked up $1.89, or 3.9 percent, to $50.01 and Hess rose $2.02, or 3.5 percent, to $59.94. Chevron, which has surged 27 percent this year, rose $1.24, or 1.1 percent, to $114.24.

BIG GAINS FOR BANKS: Banks resumed their post-election rally and are trading at their highest levels since early 2008. Goldman Sachs gained $4.77, or 2.1 percent, to $228.13, a nine-year high. Citigroup picked up $1.29, or 2.3 percent, to $57.31. While stocks traded lower overall last week, banks are on a four-week winning streak since the election.

THE BOND EFFECT: Recently banks have been benefiting from rising long-term interest rates in the bond market, which will make it more profitable for banks to lend money. Bond prices slipped again early yesterday, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note up to 2.40 percent from 2.39 percent late Friday. That yield is used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans including home mortgages.

Bond yields have been rising steadily since July, when the 10-year yield went as low as 1.36 percent. They are currently near the highest they've been this year.

Stocks that pay big dividends, like utility companies, traded lower. Those stocks are often seen as similar to bonds, and investors are less attracted to them when bond yields rise.

TECH RALLY: Microsoft added $1.16, or 2 percent, to $60.41 and chipmaker Nvidia rose $3.10, or 3.5 percent, to $91.55. Customer-management software developer Salesforce.com climbed $2.41, or 3.5 percent, to $70.82. Tech stocks are down about 1 percent since the election as investors have wondered about the effects of President-elect Donald Trump's potential trade policies. The stocks had also reached all-time highs earlier this year.

OTHER GAINERS: Consumer stocks and materials companies also outperformed the rest of the market. Travel website operator TripAdvisor added $1.38, or 3 percent, to $47.84 and Amazon jumped $18.66, or 2.5 percent, to $759. Dow Chemical rose 91 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $56.33 and steelmaker Nucor added $1.82, or 2.9 percent, to $64.85.

ITALY SAYS NO: Italian voters rejected proposed constitutional changes to the national constitution on Sunday, causing political and economic uncertainty for Europe's fourth-largest economy. Premier Matteo Renzi said he would resign. Italy's FTSE MIB index slipped 0.2 percent. Italian banks were hit hard. Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the country's third-biggest lender, slumped 4 percent in Milan. The bank failed a stress test this year and has been in negotiations with investors to raise money to shore up its financial position.

CURRENCY: The dollar rose to 114.30 yen from 113.67 yen. The euro rose to $1.0727 from $1.0660.

OVERSEAS: Outside of Italy, European stock indexes were sharply higher. Germany's DAX added 1.8 percent and France's CAC-40 gained 1 percent. In London the FTSE 100 advanced 0.3 percent. Asian stocks mostly fell. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.8 percent. The South Korean Kospi gave up 0.4 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.3 percent.