S&P 500 Rises for Fifth Consecutive Day, Tech Stocks Lead

The S&P 500 closed higher for the 5th consecutive session on Tuesday, with Tech and Utilities as the top performing sectors, and while the index continues to flirt with the 7,000 level, a breach remains elusive.  This may finally change on Wednesday however, as the earnings calendar finally arrived for the Tech heavyweights with reports from notable Hardware names, and the results have not disappointed.  Afterhours, Texas Instrumentsis up over 8% and Seagateis up 8% following results, while Western Digitalis up 6% and Sandiskis up 3% in sympathy.  Futures are also pointing higher - S&P e-minis are up 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 contract is up 0.3%,In commodities, precious metals are on offense one againafter a day of consolidation with gold above $5,160 and Silver above $112 as President Trump was explicit in his comments that he is not concerned with weaker US Dollar over the past few days.  In commodities, WTI Crude Oil is also adding to gains above $62 per barrel level in the wake of API inventories data showing a modest draw after two weeks of relatively large builds.Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER AFTER EARNINGS -Strideup 31.2%F5, Inc.up 10.4%Texas Instrumentsup 8.5%Seagateup 7.8%; Western Digital Corporationup 5.8%; Sandisk Corporationup 3.4% in sympathyNextpowerup 7.8%ALSO HIGHER -LegalZoom.comup 4.5% after S&P SmallCap 600 admissionAmerican Healthcare REITup 4.0% after S&P MidCap 400 admissionAmneal Pharmaceuticalsup 3.6% after S&P SmallCap 600 admissionApellis Pharmaceuticalsup 3.6% after S&P SmallCap 600 admissionDutch Brosup 2.9%  after S&P MidCap 400 admissionDOWN AFTER EARNINGS -Qorvodown 10.1%Greifdown 3.3%Logitech International S.A.down 1.3%ALSO LOWER -Venu Holdingdown 18.3% after equity offeringStandardAerodown 4.3% after equity offering