By Riva Gold 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was on track for a 10th consecutive day of records Thursday, extending its longest streak of all-time highs in three decades.

The blue-chip index advanced 30 points, or 0.2%, to 20806 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 gained 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped less than 0.1%.

Hopes for stronger growth, higher inflation and friendly fiscal policy from the new U.S. administration have fueled the recent rally.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC Thursday that the Trump administration is committed to boosting U.S. economic growth to at least a 3% annual rate and that tax overhaul remained top of the agenda.

"Growth momentum has improved since last summer, and on top of that, the biggest economy in the world has a new president saying he's willing to spend money," said Florian Ielpo at Swiss fund manager Unigestion.

"We're still very positive on the world economy, not only because of what's happening in the U.S. right now with leading indicators spiking up, but Europe seems to be doing decently and emerging markets seem to have stabilized if not improved," he added.

Data showed earlier this week that the eurozone economy is growing at its fastest rate in more than six years.

Some investors were more cautious, however, noting stocks were getting expensive despite a range of political risks on the horizon.

"It feels to me like the market is pricing in a lot more optimism than it should be," said David Lafferty, chief strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management.

"We have the most controversial president in history, the U.K. is leaving the EU, there are existential risks in France, high valuations...and volatility is low," he said.

Stocks in Europe were little changed Thursday, but waning concerns around the French election offered relief to French government bonds and the euro.

Centrist candidate François Bayrou announced his offer of an alliance with independent centrist Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, helping diminish some investors' fears of a victory for anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen.

French 10-year yields fell to 0.970% from 1.025% Wednesday, while their German counterparts fell to 0.255% from 0.272%. The euro was last up 0.2% at $1.0570 after snapping a three-session losing streak on Wednesday.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1%, as investors weighed gains in the oil and gas sector against a decline in bank shares.

Brent crude oil jumped 1.8% to $57.04 a barrel, while gold rose 1.2% to $1,248.20 an ounce. Copper futures fell 0.6% to $5,989.50 a ton.

Global investors were also digesting the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes released Wednesday, where officials suggested that lifting U.S. interest rates "fairly soon" may be appropriate in light of an improving economy.

The minutes did little to lift expectations for a rate rise in March. The WSJ Dollar Index was last down 0.2%, extending Wednesday's declines, while 10-year Treasury yields edged lower to 2.391% from 2.416%.

Arthur Kwong, head of Asia Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, said the firm is trying to stick with its assumption that there will be three rate increases this year, "but I think the feeling is getting more there may be only two."

Banks and financials mostly declined across Asia amid disappointment there wasn't a clearer signal on rate rises, causing Japan's Nikkei to end flat and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index to shed 0.4%. Higher interest rates tend to boost banks' profitability.

Shanghai shares pulled back on losses in infrastructure stocks, as well as reports that the government plans to ban futures companies from asset-management businesses -- though analysts are skeptical that it will carry out such drastic measures.

--Ese Erheriene,

William Horobin

,

Yifan Xie

, Nick Timiraos and Hiroyuki Kachi contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2017 09:59 ET (14:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Barclays Charts.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Barclays Charts.