New York — World stock markets advanced on Tuesday, with investors on Wall Street pushing the Dow index past the 26,000 threshold, while the dollar strengthened after four days of declines. The healthcare sector, up 0.71%, paced the advance in the US, with Merck up 6.5% and UnitedHealth up 2.3%. UnitedHealth posted quarterly results that topped analyst estimates and raised its 2018 outlook, bolstering optimism for another solid quarter for corporate earnings. Earnings growth for the quarter is forecast at 12.1%, according to Thomson Reuters data up to and including Friday. "US equity markets are really turning on the afterburners now and it is really being validated by earnings and the economic data that is providing a really constructive outlook for the broader economy," said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group, in New York. "The global economy and global markets are in sync for the first time in a meaningful way since the Great Recession." The Do...
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