Strong IBM earnings lift Dow above 23,000 points

The Dow jumped above 23,000 points early Wednesday, boosted by IBM, which surged after it reported growth in key cloud computing and artificial intelligence businesses.

IBM, which has suffered more than five years of revenue declines, shot up 7.8 percent after it reported a four percent drop in third-quarter earnings to $2.7 billion.

But earnings-per-share bested analyst expectations and revenues in IBM’s closely-watched cloud computing division rose 20 percent compared with the year-ago period

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 23,107.66, up 0.5 percent. The Dow briefly topped 23,000 on Tuesday, but finished slightly below that mark.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.1 percent to 2,561.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index retreated slightly to 6,622.44.

US stocks have scored numerous records in recent weeks in anticipation of solid earnings and enactment of a tax cut supported by President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that the stock market would drop if Washington fails to pass the tax measure.

Housing data released Wednesday showed a drop in September in housing starts and permits for new construction, due partly to US hurricanes, but also declines in some other regions.