UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc

By Leslie Josephs 

A rally in consumer and health-care stocks pushed the Dow higher and to its longest winning streak in almost a year.

The Dow added 47.37 points, or 0.3%, to 17131.86 and its seventh day of gains. The S&P 500 rose 2.57, or 0.1%, to 2017.46, while the Nasdaq Composite added 8.17, or 0.2%, to 4838.64.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. rose $3.24, or 2.7% to $122.51. Nike Inc gained 1.49, or 1.2% to $126.43.

The session's gains were muted by a drop in energy-company shares, which fell during a sharp drop in crude-oil futures.

The S&P Energy Index fell 1.1% following a report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, which said member countries produced more oil last month than in August. U.S. crude oil futures ended

U.S. crude-oil futures lost 5.1% to settle at $47.10 a barrel. Chevron fell 80 cents, or 1.1% to $88.74. Exxon Mobil added 4 cents to 79.30.

Transocean Ltd. lost 1.29, or 7.6%, to close at 15.69, while Chesapeake Energy fell 64 cents, or 7.2%, to 8.24.

Some stocks that benefit from less expensive oil rallied, however.

United Continental Holdings added 2.09, or 3.8%, to 57.80. American Airlines Group rose 1.42, or 3.4%, to 43.84.

Shares of EMC Corp. closed up 49 cents, or 1.8%, at $28.35 after news that Dell Inc. and private-equity firm Silver Lake will buy the data storage company for $67 billion in cash and stock.

Trade was quiet due to the Columbus Day holiday in the U.S., with 5.1 billion shares trading hands, the lowest volume since June 12.

The U.S. bond market was closed.

Investors are now focused on corporate earnings, analysts said.

"A lot of market participants are cautious [about] taking significant positions ahead of the earnings season," said Robbert van Batenburg, head of market strategy at Société Générale.

Investors are likely to focus on how corporations were either hurt or helped by the stronger dollar and lower oil prices, said Gordon Charlop, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities.

Earnings season is "where the rubber meets the road for these companies, " he said, adding that investors will be zeroing in on how companies have been affected by a strong U.S. dollar and low oil prices.

The Stoxx Europe fell 0.3%.

Chinese shares logged strong gains amid stimulus measures from Beijing. The Shanghai Composite gained 3.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.2%. Japan's markets were closed for a holiday.

Elsewhere, investors remained fixed on the outlook for U.S. monetary policy.

At a meeting of the International Monetary Fund over the weekend, central bank officials urged the Federal Reserve to proceed with its rate increase to reduce uncertainty. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Sunday that the U.S. central bank is taking a cautious approach in light of developments overseas and the effect of higher interest rates on emerging markets.

Meanwhile, the third-quarter earnings season is set to continue with major financial firms J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. due to report this week.

In currencies, the euro rose slightly against the dollar to $1.1364.

Gold rose 0.5% to $1162.30 a troy ounce.

Write to Leslie Josephs at leslie.josephs@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2015 17:23 ET (21:23 GMT)

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