S&P and NASDAQ snap four-day winning streak. Dow up for the 5th consecutive day

<p>The broader S&amp;P and NASDAQ index snapped 4-day winning streaks, while the Dow industrial average extended its streak to 5 days. UnitedHealth soared by 7.27% today and was responsible for over 200 points of the Dow's gains today. The Dow closed up $113.89 points.</p><p>A snapshot of the market shows</p><ul><li>Dow industrial average rose 113.89 points or 0.33% at 34509.04</li><li>S&amp;P index fell -4.64 points or -0.10% at 4505.41</li><li>NASDAQ index fell -24.88 points or -0.18% at 14113.69</li></ul><p>The small-cap Russell 2000 fell -19.80 points or -1.01% at 1931.08</p><p>The winning sectors today were led by:</p><ul><li>Healthcare, +1.5%</li><li>Consumer staples +0.35%</li><li>Consumer discretionary, +0.27%</li></ul><p>The lagging sectors today included:</p><ul><li>Energy -2.75%</li><li>Financials -0.68%, and</li><li>Communication services, -0.62%</li></ul><p>The top Dow stocks this week included:</p><ul><li>Salesforce +9.42%</li><li>3M +5.15%</li><li>Home Depot +4.55%</li><li>Caterpillar was 4.27%</li></ul><p>The laggards of the Dow this week included:</p><ul><li>Verizon -5.21%</li><li>Travelers -3.33%</li><li>Merck -1.5%</li><li> Cisco -1.20%</li></ul><p>A look at the major indices this week showed gains across the board:</p><ul><li>Dow industrial average rose 2.29%</li><li>S&amp;P index rose 2.42%</li><li>NASDAQ index rose 3.32%</li><li>Russell 2000 rose 3.56%</li></ul>

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.