text: The Dow Jones rose 0.2% to 19,251.78, while the wider S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 2,204.71, just missing a new record. The  Nasdaq rose 0.5% to 5,333.00.
  Banking shares performed strongly, with Wells Fargo up 2.2%, Bank of America rising 1.5% and Goldman up by 1.2%.
  Financial shares have climbed by over 15% since the election.
  President-elect Donald Trump's plans to reduce corporate tax and regulations are expected to benefit the sector.
  Meanwhile, analysts are predicting the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week, in another boost for banks.
  Financials in general are "benefiting from the feeling that interest rates are done going down and we are going to see a much more favourable interest rate and spread environment for financials," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management.
  Mr Trump's announcement that Japanese telecoms and internet firm SoftBank had agreed to invest $50bn in the US also boosted markets, with Sprint shares rising 1.5%and T-Mobile gaining 1.8%.
  Other telecom stocks also rose.
  AT&T shares increased by 1.9% after the firm said its new streaming television service DirectTV Now has gained more subscribers so far than expected.
  Verizon shares climbed 1.2 % after the wireless carrier said it was selling 29 data centres for $3.6bn.
  Chipotle was one of the top fallers on the S&P 500, dropping 7.6%, after it said sales had not recovered as well as expected.
  Quarterly sales have been falling over the past year since food safety issues led to the temporary closure of dozens of Chipotle restaurants across the US.
target: (Close) The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a fresh high for a second consecutive day after a rally in financial shares boosted the index.