Dow closes above 14,000, hits 5-year high SAN

Dow closes above 14,000, hits 5-year high

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks pushed against resistance levels Tuesday as blue chips, led by the financial sector, closed at levels not seen in more than five years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) rose 47.46 points, or 0.3%, to close at 14,018.70, with 23 of 30 components finishing in positive territory. Tuesday’s close is the best since Oct. 12, 2007, and 1% off its record close of 14,164.53, set on Oct. 9, 2007. The index hit an intraday high of 14,038.97 on Tuesday.
Financial stocks boosted blue chips with Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) leading the way with a 3.3% gain. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) rose 1%, Travelers Cos. (NYSE:TRV) advanced 0.9%, and American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) closed 0.4% higher.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) was the worst performer on the Dow industrials, declining 2.7%, after the beverage giant’s quarterly revenue growth came in below analyst estimates. See: Coca-Cola profit rises 13% on higher case volume.

The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) advanced 2.42 points, or 0.2%, to 1,519.43, with technology the biggest decliner and financials the top gainer among the 10 major industry groups.
he Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:COMP) , after a brief swing into positive territory, closed down 5.51 points, or 0.2%, at 3,186.49.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares ended near their lows of the session, down 2.5% at $467.90. The iPhone maker presented at a Goldman Sachs investment conference in San Francisco.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors at the conference that the company did not plan to wage a proxy battle against hedge-fund manager David Einhorn over a proposal to issue preferred stock.

Also in the tech sector, shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) fell 3.2%.

The stock market is undergoing an epic struggle right now, having been in a secular bear market for the past 13 years, said Marty Leclerc, principal at Barrack Yard Advisors. With the stock market at multiyear highs, and multiyear resistance levels, we would need another 30% rally over the next year to break out of the bear market, he said. See Mark Hulbert’s commentary: An overlooked bear-market strategy.

“We do think it’s a dangerous tipping point,” Leclerc said. “Either the market will go up 30% in the next year or we’ll have a 20% to 25% decline from these levels.” http://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-dr...2013-02-12