U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday with the Dow industrials and S&P 500 notching new records, shaking off early weakness in the health-care sector to extend gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.14% marked its third consecutive record close, surging 297.84, or 1.6%, to finish at 19,549.62, following a fresh intraday record. Gains in Nike Inc. NKE, -0.02%, Home Depot Inc. HD, +0.75% and Visa Inc. V, -2.26% outweighed a slump in health-care shares of Johnson & Johnson Inc. JNJ, -0.98%, Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.90% and Merck & Co. MRK, -3.58%

The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.01%, which also reached an intraday trading high, closed at a record of 2,241.35, a gain of 29.12 points, or 1.3%, with all sectors except the health care—which finished down 0.8%—closing for a gain.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.19% which had been trading in negative territory earlier, turned higher, and finished up 60.76 points, or 1.1%, at 5,393.76, a few points shy of its record close set in late November.

Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 index RUT, +1.27%, a gauge of shares of small-capitalization companies, closed at a record of 1,364.50, after a gain of 11.84 points, or 0.9%. The index has climbed more than 13% since the U.S. presidential election.

Highlighting how markets were broadly climbing, the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT, +2.02% also closed at a record of 9,371.61, after logging its first record intraday high in more than two years.

Health-care names tumbled early Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to cut drug prices. “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” Trump told Time in his “Person of the Year” cover story. “I don’t like what has happened with drug prices.”

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB, -0.40%, the most widely used way to place bets on the biotech space, sank 3%.

The stock market’s postelection ascent has been underpinned by hopes that Trump will follow through with a slate of pro-business policies, including boosting infrastructure spending and cutting taxes for the wealthy.

Frank Cappelleri, executive director at Instinet LLC, said investors caught flat-footed by the sustained rally following Trump’s unexpected Election Day win are still rotating into stocks.

“Investors may see a few days of a pause as a reason to get back involved,” said Cappelleri. He said the second reason why this move can extend higher is because investors betting on a downturn “are a little gun-shy” after getting burned in November.

Other strategists say the market has traded in a relatively narrow range since 2014 and make the case that the Trump rally has only lasted a month and has a shot at moving higher into the end of the year.

“It has only been about four weeks since the breakout for stocks and a lot of people are looking at this to be quickly aborted, but the market shouldn’t be faulted for expecting more,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at brokerage firm Robert W. Baird & Co.

Another factor that may be supporting stock gains is the belief that traditional selling patterns that occur at the end of the year aren’t being followed because investors are making bets on lower taxes under a Trump administration.

“Anyone who has gained [in December] are not going to want to sell their stocks and pay taxes in April 2017, when they can wait till 2018,” Bittles said. Of course, taxes on profits from the sale of assets could be higher then, but Bittles says Wall Street thinks that it makes more sense to wait and see, which is reducing traditional selling of stocks to take year-end profits and encouraging buying.

“It appears that nothing can stop the equity rally,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets UK, in a note.

However, some strategists and traders are concerned that a pullback might be in the offing because the market has climbed too fast and too furiously.

Indeed, the CBOE Volatility Index VIX, +1.80% is trading at just under 12, which implies that investors may be getting complacent. “Buying volatility at these levels may not be that much of a bad idea,” Aslam said.

Read: Why the rally by U.S. stocks is ‘just getting started’—in one chart

Other markets: European stocks SXXP, -0.28% finished higher, with banks and miners among the session’s big winners, and Asian markets closed broadly higher. Oil futures CLF27, -49.47% settled down 2.3% at $49.77 a barrel, while gold futures US:GCZ6 advanced 0.6% to settle at $1,177.50 an ounce while a key dollar index DXY, +0.10% slipped 0.3%.

Individual stocks: Ahead of the opening bell, Brown-Forman Corp. BF.A, +1.47% reported quarterly sales that topped estimates, as the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey backed its full-year forecast. Shares closed down 0.9%.

Handbag seller Vera Bradley Inc. VRA, +2.71% cut its full-year outlook after missing its own guidance range for the third quarter. Shares tumbled 13%.

Western Digital Corp. WDC, +0.82% shares jumped to close 8.3% higher after the computer hardware maker raised its outlook late Tuesday.

Micron Technology Inc. MU, +0.33% shares rallied 7.3% after Citigroup rated the stock a buy.

Shares of Under Armour Inc. CH:UAA UA, +3.04% surged after the athletic apparel company changed its stock tickers. Class A shares closed up 4.3%, and Class C shares rose 6.4%.

Economic news: Consumer credit in October rose $16 billion, but that was at the slowest pace since June.

The JOLTS report, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, showed that job openings were unchanged at 5.5 million in October, according to Labor Department.

Investors also are bracing for the European Central Bank’s policy-setting meeting on Thursday. The Federal Reserve entered the so-called blackout period Tuesday ahead of its meeting Dec. 13-14, so there are no Fed speakers on the docket.

Check out: MarketWatch’s Economic Calendar

—Victor Reklaitis in London contributed to this article.</s>NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes soared Wednesday to their biggest gains since the presidential election and set all-time highs.

Investors bought stocks that do well in times of faster economic growth, such as technology and industrial companies, but they also snapped up stocks that pay large dividends.

The Dow jumped 297.84 points, or 1.5 percent, to 19,549.62. The S&P 500 index rose 29.12 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,241.35. The Nasdaq composite recovered from an early loss to rise 60.76 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,393.76. That was about 5 points short of its all-time high.

The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks also recovered from an early loss and set its own record as it gained 11.84 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,364.51.

"Appetite for riskier assets is strong amid investors, and nothing is stopping them from beefing up their bullish bets," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst in London at Think Markets U.K. "The major focus is that the biggest economy in the world, the U.S., is going to pick up steam on the back of Trump-economics," Aslam said.

The stock rally since President-elect Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is now the biggest for any new president since Ronald Reagan.

"What we didn't expect was the speed and the magnitude of the 'Trump Trade,'" Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at Leuthold Group LLC, wrote in a note published Wednesday. "The consensus hope, which we share, is that tax reform and regulatory roll-back will extend and maybe enliven an economic recovery that's already long in the tooth."

Stocks moved steadily higher throughout the day after a mixed open. Phone and real estate companies made the largest gains, but the rally moved into high gear in the afternoon, as shares of airlines, railroads and trucking companies soared.

Investors took the rally in transportation stocks as a sign of optimism about economic growth. Technology and consumer-focused companies also jumped. Biotech drug companies took steep losses after Trump said he wants to reduce drug prices.

The transportation sector reached an all-time high for the first time in two years. Julian Emanuel, an equity strategist for UBS, said investors were pleased to see that record because they see it as a sign businesses will start spending more, which would bolster economic growth.

"The consumer has really been the engine of the economy," he said. "The missing piece has been the corporate side, the industrial side."

U.S. government bond prices rose, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.34 percent from 2.39 percent. Bond yields have risen sharply since the summer but have slipped in the past few days.

The lower bond yields have helped stocks that are seen as bond substitutes, like real estate investment trusts. Their big dividends are attractive to investors who want income, so when bond yields fall, investors often turn to those stocks. Industrial real estate company Prologis rose $1.62, or 3.2 percent, to $52.32, and Verizon picked up $1.02, or 2 percent, to $51.38.

AT&T also jumped as a Senate antitrust panel scrutinized its planned $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner, the parent of HBO. Legislators asked if the deal would improve competition and reduce prices for consumers, as the companies say it will. AT&T gained $1.10, or 2.8 percent, to $40.45, and Time Warner edged up 8 cents to $93.98.

A wide array of companies that stand to benefit from faster economic growth also climbed. Home-improvement retailer Lowe's rose $3.94, or 5.4 percent, to $76.40, and truck-maker Paccar jumped $3.20, or 5 percent, to $67.63. U.S. Steel added $1.54, or 4.3 percent, to $37.49.

IBM led technology companies higher as it rose $4.44, or 2.8 percent, to $164.79. Hard-drive maker Western Digital climbed $5.30, or 8.3 percent, to $69.15 after it extended a licensing deal with Samsung.

In an interview with Time magazine, which named him Person of the Year, the president-elect said he wants to reduce drug prices. He did not say how his administration plans to do that. Clinton campaigned on reducing drug prices, and drug company stocks had rallied since the election as investors felt that was less likely to happen under Trump.

The Nasdaq biotechnology index tumbled 2.9 percent. Those companies make costly medications and might stand to lose the most under tighter price regulations. Amgen lost $3.92, or 2.7 percent, to $141.19, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals sank $2.80, or 3.6 percent, to $75.32.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell $1.16, or 2.3 percent, to $49.77 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, slid 93 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $53 a barrel in London. Energy companies traded higher Wednesday, although they rose less than the rest of the market.

Oil surged to a 16-month high last week after OPEC agreed to trim the group's output by 1.2 million barrels a day from January to stem a supply glut and buoy prices. OPEC has invited 14 producers from outside the group to a meeting Saturday to discuss the curbs, Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said.

"The crude-buying frenzy of last week has abated," Adam Wise, who helps run a $7 billion oil and natural gas bond and private equity portfolio at John Hancock in Boston, said by telephone. "The market is now digesting the data and attention is shifting to the implementation of the agreement."

European stock indexes jumped as investors anticipated that the European Central Bank will extend its bond-buying stimulus program today. The stimulus is designed to promote growth and inflation. European stock indexes climbed. Germany's DAX gained 2 percent, and the FTSE 100 in Britain rose 1.8 percent. The CAC 40 of France picked up 1.4 percent.

The European Central Bank already has spent $1.5 trillion on quantitative easing, a figure that will rise to $1.8 trillion by the end of March.

The dollar fell to 113.85 yen from 114.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.0759 from $1.0715.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline prices fell 3 cents to $1.51 per gallon. Heating oil slipped 2 cents to $1.62 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents to $3.60 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose $7.40 to $1,177.50 an ounce. Silver jumped 47 cents to $17.28 an ounce. Copper dipped 4 cents to $2.64 a pound.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent, and the South Korean Kospi inched up 0.1 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.5 percent.

Information for this article was contributed by Marley Jay of The Associated Press and by Mark Shenk, Jessica Summers, Jeremy Herron, Emma O'Brien, Carolyn Look, Lu Wang, Joseph Ciolli and Oliver Renick of Bloomberg News.</s>Before the election, prominent stock pickers warned the Dow would plunge 1,000 points if Donald Trump was elected. In reality, the exact opposite has happened.

Trump euphoria has sent the index up almost 1,200 points in the four weeks since Trump's shocking defeat of Hillary Clinton. On Wednesday, a burst of buying has sent the Dow surging nearly 300 points to new all-time highs.

The Dow is now within striking distance -- roughly 500 points -- from the pivotal 20,000 milestone.

Wall Street is betting that Trump will be great for business and help accelerate the U.S. economy. Trump has promied to slash taxes, roll back costly regulations and spend big on infrastructure.

Trump's less business-friendly promises -- tearing up NAFTA, breaking up the big banks and auditing the Federal Reserve -- have largely been shrugged off as campaign rhetoric.

Related: Trump market rally could be derailed unless...

Neil Hennessy, president of mutual fund Hennessy Funds, believes more good times are coming and the Dow will soon eclipse 20,000.

"If you're not in equities, you're crazy," Hennessy said. He predicted more cash will flow into stocks as Americans realize how much bonds have tanked since the election, a trend he expects will continue. Bonds have struggled badly due to higher growth and government spending forecasts under Trump.

The U.S. stock market has greeted Trump much more warmly than it welcomed President Obama. During the same period after Obama's 2008 victory, the Dow had fallen 1,000 points. Of course, during much of Obama's term stocks have rallied: the Dow has gained close to 10,000 points since he was elected.

Not even Trump himself has been able to stop the post-election euphoria on Wall Street. Trump put the pharmaceutical industry on notice on Wednesday, warning he will lower controversial drug prices. The comments, in an interview with Time, spooked biotech stocks, but had little impact on the rest of the market.

Likewise, stocks rose on Tuesday even after Trump took a surprisingly strong stance against American aerospace giant Boeing. Trump's threat to cancel Boeing's Air Force One contract only caused a brief dip in Boeing's (BA) stock price and the Dow closed at a record high.

But will the Trump rally continue?

One leading indicator of future performance suggest it may. The closely-watched Dow Transports broke out to its first record high since 2014 on Wednesday. Appropriately, the previously-struggling index of economically-sensitive stocks has the ticker symbol of "DJT."

But history shows that a post-election party on Wall Street doesn't always translate to a strong economy, or stock market. As CNNMoney's Paul R. LaMonica noted, even Herbert Hoover enjoyed a 13% market surge following his 1928 victory -- just before the country plunged into the Great Depression.

The other risk is that the market's expectations may be getting out of hand. If Trump fails to deliver the pro-growth stimulus he's promised or his tough talk on trade backfires, stocks could be in store for a painful retreat.

"It would be irrational to think we're not due for a pullback soon," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

Hogan pointed out that much of Trump's stimulus promises will take time to get enacted, especially in slow-moving Washington.

"It's not like you get sworn in and you get to wave a magic wand," he said.</s>TOKYO (AP) — Asian markets were mostly higher Wednesday, cheered by gains on Wall Street and optimism about the telecommunications industry.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent to finish at 18,496.69. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9 percent to 5,478.10. South Korea’s Kospi was little changed, inching up less than 0.1 percent at 1,991.15. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3 percent to 22,748.81, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4 percent to 3,211.87.

WALL STREET: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.54 points, or 0.2 percent, to a record high 19,251.78. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.52 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,212.23 and the Nasdaq composite rose 24.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,333.

TRUMP TELECOMS: SoftBank’s shares jumped nearly 4 percent in morning trading in Tokyo after its CEO met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and then announced the Japanese company, which owns the majority of Sprint, plans to invest $50 billion in the U.S. to create 50,000 jobs. Sprint added 1.5 percent and T-Mobile gained about 2 percent, amid speculation T-Mobile it could be acquired, possibly by SoftBank.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Asian indices look set to see moderate gains on the back of the euphoria that stems from US and European markets. This is despite the absence of the boost for oil-related equities we had experienced in the past few sessions,” Jingyi Pan, a market strategist for IG, said in a research note.

AUSTRALIA: The Australian economy contracted 0.5 percent in the September quarter in the first quarterly decline since early 2011, the government said Wednesday. A contraction in the current quarter would put the country in a technical recession for the first time in 25 years. Annual growth was 1.8 percent. The bigger-than-expected contraction raised hopes for possible stimulus measures.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 18 cents to $50.75 in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 9 cents to $53.84 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: In currencies, the euro fell to $1.0725 from $1.0781 the day before. The dollar rose to 114.22 yen from 113.89 yen.

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama</s>NEW YORK – The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local):

Major U.S. stock indexes are leaping to all-time highs in a broad rally.

The gains Wednesday were driven by stocks that tend to do well when the economy is growing, like consumer and technology companies, as well as stocks that pay high dividends, like phone and real estate companies.

It was the market's biggest gain since early November.

Nike rose 3 percent, the biggest gain in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Drugmakers fell after President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to reduce drug prices.

The Dow surged 297 points, or 1.6 percent, to 19,549. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 29 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,241. The Nasdaq composite gained 60 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,393.

Those were record high closes for the Dow and S&P 500.

U.S. stocks are moving higher in midday trading, keeping major indexes at record highs.

Bond yields fell Wednesday, prompting investors to shift money into high-dividend stocks like real estate investment trusts, utilities and phone companies.

Health care stocks took steep losses after President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to reduce drug prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 19,298. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,215. The Nasdaq composite gave up 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,329.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.36 percent.

Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street as the market backs away from record highs set the day before.

Drugmakers were among the biggest losers in early trading on Wednesday. Pfizer and Merck each fell 2 percent.

Other companies were lower after reporting disappointing results. Vera Bradley, which makes handbags and accessories, dropped 12 percent and liquor maker Brown-Forman fell 1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 19,247. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,209. The Nasdaq composite gave up 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,325.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.36 percent.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes soared to their biggest gains since the presidential election today and set all-time highs.

Investors bought stocks that do well in times of faster economic growth, like technology and industrial companies, but they also snapped up stocks that pay large dividends.

Stocks moved steadily higher throughout the day after a mixed open. Phone and real estate companies made the largest gains, but the rally moved into high gear in the afternoon, as airlines, railroads and trucking companies soared.

Investors took the rally in transportation stocks as a sign of optimism about economic growth. Technology and consumer-focused companies also jumped. Biotech drug companies took steep losses after President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to reduce drug prices.

The transportation sector reached an all-time high for the first time in two years. Julian Emanuel, an equity strategist for UBS, said investors were pleased to see that record because they see it as a sign businesses will start spending more, which would bolster economic growth.

"The consumer has really been the engine of the economy," he said. "The missing piece has been the corporate side, the industrial side."

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 297.84 points, or 1.5 percent, to 19,549.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 29.12 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,241.35. The Nasdaq composite recovered from an early loss to rise 60.76 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,393.76. That was about five points short of its all-time high.
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday with the Dow industrials and S&P 500 notching new records.