NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Tuesday, led by defensive sectors, in a sign the cash piles recently moving into the market are being put to use by cautious investors to pick up more gains.
The S&P 500 is on track to post its best monthly performance since October 2011 and its best January since 1997 as investors poured $55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, the biggest monthly inflow on record.
Among rising defensive shares, which are companies relatively immune to economic swings, were drugmaker Pfizer
"After the kind of rally that we had since the beginning of the year, many investors are becoming more cautious but there is fundamental reasons to be moving in the direction that we are moving in," said Joseph Tanious, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds.
"The 1,500 on the S&P is the psychological barrier but there are still more tailwinds than headwinds in the market."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 64.01 points, or 0.46 percent, at 13,945.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 6.45 points, or 0.43 percent, at 1,506.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 5.85 points, or 0.19 percent, at 3,148.45.
"Cyclical were moving very nicely, now you see balance with some of the defensive. Many managers use that as an internal hedge in equity portfolios," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
She said the market is cautious ahead of Wednesday's statement following the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting. In addition, defensive stocks would hold up better if Friday's payrolls report surprises on the downside.
The S&P hovered near 1,500, and market technicians say the benchmark is at an inflection point which will determine the overall direction in the near term.
"The public is pouring in now," said Carter Worth, chief market technician at Oppenheimer & Co in New York. "It reflects complacency and that typically leads to hubris, and hubris leads to trouble. Everyone's buying."
The top performing sectors on the S&P 500 were healthcare <.spxhc> and telecom services <.splrcl>, so-called defensive sectors, both up more than 1 percent.
The energy sector also advanced, on the back of strong earnings from Valero Energy Corp
Valero shares jumped 10.8 percent to $42.99 and Hess gained 8.1 percent to $67.56.
The equity gains have largely come on a strong start to earnings season, though results were mixed on Tuesday with Pfizer rising but Ford Motor Co
Both companies reported profits that topped expectations, but Ford also forecast a wider loss in its European segment. Ford dropped 5.6 percent to $13.01 as one of the biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500.
Thomson Reuters data showed that of the 174 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings this season, 68.4 percent have been above analyst expectations, which is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.
Disappointing outlooks from Seagate Technology
Software maker VMware Inc
Amazon was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq with a 3.2 percent drop to $267.17 before its results, expected after the closing bell.
U.S. home prices rose in November to rack up their best yearly gain since the housing crisis began, a further sign that the sector is on the mend, but consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in more than a year in the wake of higher taxes for many Americans.
(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Wall Street edges up as defensive stocks extend rally
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Wall Street edges up as defensive stocks extend rally
