Tech companies led a broad rally for U.S. stocks Tuesday, a boost for the market in a holiday-shortened trading session before the Christmas break.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 177 points, or 0.4%, as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was up 1%.
Chip company Broadcom rose 2.6%, while semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 1.1%. Super Micro Computer jumped 4.6%.
Tesla climbed 5.2% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Amazon.com rose 1.5%
American Airlines slipped 0.4% after the airline briefly grounded flights nationwide due to a technical issue.
U.S. Steel edged up 0.1% a day after an influential government panel failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of the nearly $15 billion proposed sale to Nippon Steel of Japan.
NeueHealth surged 70.1% after the health care company agreed to be taken private in a deal valued at roughly $1.3 billion.
Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62% from 4.59% late Monday.
European markets were mostly higher. Markets in Asia mostly gained ground.
U.S. markets will close at 1 p.m. Eastern and stay closed Wednesday for Christmas.
Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to this week, including a weekly update on unemployment benefits on Thursday.
Tuesday’s rally comes as the stock market enters what’s historically been a very cheerful season. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. The so-called “Santa rally” also correlates closely with positive returns in January and the upcoming year.
So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade.
Even so, the stock market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up about 26% so far this year and remains within roughly 1.3% of the all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year.
Shares are higher in Europe and Asia, lifted by technology stocks that have rebounded from last week's losses.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
Stocks are gaining ground on Wall Street following several upbeat economic updates and a steady flow of quarterly reports from U.S. companies.
Nvidia and other technology stocks are propping up Wall Street.
For President Donald Trump, tariffs — or the threat of them — can bend nations to his will.
The mighty heft of Amazon is pulling the U.S. stock market higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Friday, erasing some of its slump from the day before and pulling closer to its all-time high set on Tuesday. The index is on track to close a third straight winning week and a sixth straight winning month, which would be its longest monthly winning streak since 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 65 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%. Amazon led the way after delivering a much bigger profit than analysts expected. Treasury yields eased a bit in the bond market.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
The Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut its key interest rate on Wednesday and could signal it expects another cut in December as the central bank seeks to bolster hiring. A cut Wednesday would be the second this year and could benefit consumers by bringing down borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans. Since Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled in late August that rate cuts were likely this year, the average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen to about 6.2% from 6.6%. Still, the Fed is navigating an unusual period for the U.S. economy and its future moves are harder to anticipate than is typically the case.
Stocks are rallying toward more records ahead of a week packed with potentially market-moving events. The S&P 500 rose 1% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 224 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.7%. Stocks also climbed in Asia ahead of a meeting on Thursday between the heads of the United States and China. The hope is that the talks could clear rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. This upcoming week will feature profit reports from some of Wall Street's most influential companies and a meeting by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. Gold fell back toward $4,000 per ounce.
