NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks set new records Tuesday as big gains by banks and travel companies propelled the Dow Jones industrial average ever closer to the symbolic 20,000 level, which remained just out of reach.

Bond yields rose taking interest rates higher. That helped financial firms. Goldman Sachs rose 1.7 percent and Regions Financial rose 2.1 percent.

Strong earnings from cruise line operator Carnival lifted its shares 2.3 percent.

Cheerios maker General Mills cut its sales projections for the year, sending its shares down 2.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 92 points, or 0.5 percent, to 19,974.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8 points or 0.4 percent to 2,271. The Nasdaq composite gained 27 points or 0.5 percent to 5,484.