While the UK’s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.4%, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.8% and the German DAX Index is up by 1.4%.
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J&J shares rose 2.1 percent to a record high of $125.75, after the company’s profit topped estimates and it raised its forecast for the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average.DJI rose 9.66 points, or 0.05 percent, to 18,542.71, the S&P 500.SPX lost 5.17 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,161.72, and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC dropped 21.36 points, or 0.42 percent, to 5,034.42. Microsoft declined 1 per cent before it reports results after the market closes.
The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX closed Tuesday at a one-year low and has dropped more than 50 per cent from a four-month high on June 24. The 5-Year Note was yielding 1.14 percent.
Several reports on the US economy have also come in better than expected in recent weeks, which has helped stock indexes reach record highs.
Technology stocks led the way, rising 0.7% after SoftBank Group agreed to buy United Kingdom chip designer ARM Holdings for 32 billion dollars (£24 billion). The Dow’s eighth straight session of gains marked its longest winning streak since March 2013. All three stock were up under 1 percent.
Microsoft is now up by 6.9 percent after reporting better than expected earnings and revenues due in part to strong cloud business.
Intuitive Surgical was up 6 per cent at $713.41 after the medical device maker’s profit beat estimates.
Disney fell 2 per cent to $97.47 after a Stifel rating downgrade.
The overall optimism and boost in risk appetite was evident in strong gains for the ultra-risky junk bonds (HYG) and a selloff in haven investments, such as Treasurys gold futures.
Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, with the defensive sectors – utilities .SPLRCU , consumer staples .SPLRCS and telecoms .SPLRCL – down 0.3 to 0.5 percent.
Oil prices fell as much 1 percent for a second day in a row as the rallying dollar and a persistent global fuel glut offset forecasts for lower USA crude stockpiles. The price of benchmark USA crude lost 25 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $44.38 a barrel. Profits at S&P 500 companies are now expected to fall by 3.8 percent, less than the 4.5 percent decline estimated earlier, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.43-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.87-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent on a weaker yen and a Pokemon-powered rally in Nintendo shares. Late Tuesday, Microsoft reported surprise increases in adjusted earnings per share, with its Azure cloud business doubling over the past year. But, the energy index was down 1.07 per cent as oil prices fell 1.5 per cent. The price of gold fell $14.30, or 1.1 percent, to $1,318.20 per ounce.
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Brent crude settled down 65 cents, or 1.37%, at $46.96 a barrel after selling in oil futures was stoked by reduced worries about widening political instability in the Middle East as the coup bid in Turkey ended.
