NEW YORK — Stocks resumed their advance after investors got the numbers they wanted from first-quarter earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25 points Tuesday for its eighth gain in nine days. Broader indexes posted bigger percentage increases after a mixed finish Monday.
Investors set aside some concerns about the government’s civil fraud case against Goldman Sachs and looked to profit numbers. Beyond those reports, a bounce in the price of crude oil after a two-week slide helped energy stocks.
Harley-Davidson, industrial-equipment maker Illinois Tool Works and regional bank Marshall & Ilsley rose after reporting earnings.
Goldman Sachs said its first-quarter profit nearly doubled on higher trading revenue. However, the stock fell 2 percent on concerns about the company’s legal troubles.
After the closing bell, Apple said its first-quarter profit jumped 90 percent after it sold more of its iPhone smartphones. The stock rose about 6 percent in after-hours trading after ending the regular session lower.
Futures contracts for the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.6 percent after Apple’s report.
James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors in Conshohocken, Pa., said stocks aren’t as likely to leap higher because expectations have risen.
“We all know now that the economy is recovering at a rate that is faster than we thought two or three weeks ago, and the market has adjusted,” Meyer said.
He said that could bring more volatility in the coming weeks when investors start looking for something else to move the market.
Stocks have rocketed higher since major indexes hit 12-year lows more than 13 months ago. Tuesday’s advance extended a streak of steady gains seen in the past two months. Improving economic and earnings reports have given investors more confidence that the economy will mount a sustained recovery.
The Dow rose 25.01, or 0.2 percent, to 11,117.06. A drop in shares of IBM after its earnings report held the Dow to a more modest advance than other indexes.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9.65, or 0.8 percent, to 1,207.17. The Nasdaq composite advanced 20.20, or 0.8 percent, to 2,500.31.
Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia, said the market climbed with little break ahead of the earnings reports, so a slowdown isn’t unexpected.
“We got paid ahead for this earnings period,” Stone said.
