MARKET SNAPSHOT: S&P 500 Jumps Back Near Record; Apple At New High

By Victor Reklaitis and Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday after a better-than-expected jump in July housing starts and upbeat earnings reports.

Apple Inc.(AAPL) achieved an all-time split-adjusted closing high, while Home Depot Inc. (HD) was the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the wake of quarterly results that topped forecasts.

The S&P 500 (SPX) advanced 9.86 points, or 0.5%, to close at 1,981.60, while the Dow industrials(DJI) rose 80.85 points, or 0.5%, to end at 16,919.59. The S&P 500 stands 0.3% off its July 24 record close at 1,987.98, recovering from its drop in late July and early August.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) advanced 19.20 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 4,527.51. The tech-laden index scored its highest close since March 31, 2000, for the second day in a row, and it's on a five-day winning streak.

The Commerce Department on Tuesday said construction on U.S. new homes rose 15.7% in July to an annual rate of 1.09 million, well above forecasts, and the June drop in new construction was revised to a much smaller decline.

"I think investors will be encouraged to an extent by the revisions in the data," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers. He also said geopolitical concerns seem to be receding, even though there's no resolution in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and that "just gives added impetus to the bulls."

In other economic news, the Labor Department said U.S. consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, matching forecasts and signaling inflation isn't flaring up.

What strategists are saying: The rest of the week "is going to be about the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes and Jackson Hole conference," said Wouter Sturkenboom, strategist at Russell Investments in London, in emailed comments.

"On both counts, we and the market expect the prevailing dovish stance to hold, providing upside momentum for markets," Sturkenboom said. But he added that owing to valuation concerns, his firm remains neutral on U.S. stocks.

The FOMC minutes will hit Wednesday, and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will speak on Friday at the central bank's conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Stocks have rallied in recent sessions mostly because investors are no longer frightened about rising interest rates, said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird. Some soft economic news in the U.S. and overseas, such as for jobless claims and retail sales, indicate the low-rate regime that's boosted stocks will continue.

"All of a sudden, the theory that we were in a rising interest rate environment in the U.S. turned out to be perhaps premature," Bittles told MarketWatch. He argued that while geopolitical fears have spiked and then eased, they're largely background noise.

Movers & shakers: Home Depot shares rose 5.6% to a record close, and home-builder shares staged a rally with D.R Horton Inc.(DHI), Ryland Group Inc.(RYL), and Lennar Corp. (LEN) shares all advancing at least 3%.

TJX Cos.(TJX) climbed 8.7% to lead the S&P 500 after its quarterly results surpassed expectations. (Read more on the day's notable movers here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-depot-dicks-sporting-goods-medtronic-report-earnings-tuesday-2014-08-19.)

Apple rose 1.4% to finish at $100.53, topping its prior post-split record close of $100.30 achieved on Sept. 19, 2012. The tech giant's record intraday high of $100.72 came on Sept. 21, 2012. (Read more: 7 reasons to think different about this product cycle for Apple http://www.marketwatch.com/story/7-reasons-why-this-product-cycle-will-be-different-for-apple-2014-08-19.)

Other markets:Japanese stocks rose for a seventh day, boosted by Wall Street gains from Monday. European stocks pushed higher, helped by a leap by Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Møller-Maersk AS . Oil (CLU4) and gold (GCZ4) lost ground.

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