Stocks extend gains as investors focus on latest earnings

Major U.S. stock indexes closed mostly higher Tuesday, led by health care companies, retailers and banks.

The modest gains nudged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to all-time highs for the second straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat.

Investors weighed another batch of mostly solid company earnings reports. Sprint soared after a federal judge cleared a major obstacle to the company being acquired by T-Mobile. Microsoft and Facebook slumped after federal regulators announced they've ramped up an antitrust probe into the two companies as well as Amazon, Apple and Google parent Alphabet.

Cruise operators, hotels and other companies that focus on travel made solid gains, the latest sign that traders are feeling less worried about the economic impact from the virus outbreak that began in China.

“Stocks are collectively saying, ‘hey, maybe we can work past some of the noise with the virus; maybe the fallout won’t be as big as we thought," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. “And the U.S. economy, so far at least, looks like it's weathering it pretty well.”

The S&P 500 index rose 0.2%, to 3,357.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.48 points, or less than 0.1%, to 29,276.34.

The Nasdaq composite gained 0.1%, to 9,638.94. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 0.6%, to 1,677.51.-- AP