Tech companies led a broad rally for U.S. stocks Tuesday, a boost for the stock market before it closes early for Christmas Eve.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 273 points, or 0.6%, as of 12:18 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was up 1%.
Chip company Broadcom rose 2.9%, while semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 0.8%. Super Micro Computer jumped 5.8%.
Tesla climbed 5.1%, one of the biggest gains among S&P 500 stocks. Amazon.com rose 1.6%
American Airlines slipped 0.1% after the airline briefly grounded flights nationwide due to a technical issue.
U.S. Steel rose 1.1% 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 68.9% 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 4.61% from 4.59% late Monday.
European markets were mostly higher. Markets in Asia mostly gained ground.
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U.S. markets will close at 12 p.m. CT 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.
