While you were sleeping: Apple outlook pushes Dow past 22,000

A better-than-expected outlook from Apple sent the stock to a record and pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first closing above 22,000 points.

Wall Street's best-known benchmark is up 20% since the US Election Day.

Apple shares opened at $US159.28 – up nearly $US10 on the previous close – after reporting quarterly earnings and producing an outlook that exceeded expectations. The shares closed 4.7% up at $US157.14 and rose as high as $US159.75 earlier in the session.

"With revenue up 7% year-over-year, we're happy to report our third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth and an all-time quarterly record for Services revenue," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement.

Apple said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of between $US49 billion and $US52 billion.

"Apple, at he heart of it, has a lot of consumer exposure, and the consumer is in great shape," Mike Baele, managing director at US Bank Private Client Wealth Management in Portland, Oregon, told Reuters. "But we would like to see some capex."

'Gains may not last'
Even so, Wall Street was mixed. At the close of trading in New York, the Dow was up 52.32 points, or 0.2%, to 22,016.24. However, the Nasdaq Composite Index barely moved to finish at 6362.65, a fall of just 0.29 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was also little changed, moving up just 1.22 points to 2477.57.

Earlier in the day, the Dow climbed to a record 22,036.10.

Some investors are concerned the gains might not last.

"The market gain has been built on a narrow group of issues. That typically is not indicative of great health," Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, told Reuters. "I would not be shocked ... if we saw a pullback."

McDonald's rose 1.2% as the other top performer in the Dow. Keeping a lid on the advance were declines in shares of Walt Disney and Verizon down 2.1% and 1.8% respectively.

Burger King is hot
Restaurant Brands International posted quarterly profit that exceeded expectations, bolstered by its Burger King brand, though sales at Tim Hortons and Popeyes fell short of the mark.

Comparable sales at Burger King rose 3.9%, while Tim Hortons slipped 0.8% and Popeyes fell 2.7%.

"We had notable strength at Burger King with both strong comparable sales growth and net restaurant growth," Daniel Schwartz, chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"We also made good progress integrating Popeyes and continue to be excited about the long term growth potential for the brand."

The stock closed 0.7% higher in Toronto at $C74.97, after rising as high as $C76.28.

Jobs data improves
Meanwhile, the latest US jobs data offered fresh signs of strength. An ADP Research Institute report showed US private employers added 178,000 jobs last month, following an upwardly-revised increase of 191,000 jobs in June.

"The American job machine continues to operate in high gear," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in a statement, Bloomberg reported. Moody's produces the figures with ADP.

"Job gains are broad-based across industries and company sizes, with only manufacturers reducing their payrolls," Zandi noted. "At this pace of job growth, unemployment will continue to quickly decline."

Attention now turns to the government's nonfarm payrolls data, scheduled for release on Friday, which is expected to show that US employers added about 180,000 workers in July.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a decline of 0.4% from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.2%, France's CAC 40 Index shed 0.4% and Germany's DAX Index dropped 0.6%.

(BusinessDesk)