4:05pm: S&P 500 approaches its record high
US stocks ended the day higher, with the Dow on a nine-day winning streak, as the interest-rate cut hope rally in equities continued.
At the close, the Dow rose 252 points to 37,558, while the S&P 500 added 28 points at 4,768 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 98 points to 15,003.
"This bias of buying stocks is taking hold," Bokeh Capital Partners founder Kim Forrest said.
"And unless news changes it, we’re probably going to drift higher every single day because of it."
Notable movers included shares of Affirm Holdings Inc, which surged 16% after the company announced an expansion of its "buy now, pay later" partnership with Walmart to over 4,500 of the retailer’s self-checkout kiosks.
12:00pm: S&P on hunt for new records as stocks keep motoring
Stocks continued to motor with the S&P 500 getting close to record territory.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 202.00 points, 0.5%, at 37,508.02, the S&P 500 was up 19.67 points, 0.4%, at 4,760.23 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 58.16 points, 0.4%, at 14,963.35.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG said: "It seems investors are determined to drive stocks higher in the week before Christmas, with no sign of profit taking in sight."
"Instead, stocks and indices around the globe continue to eke out more gains in the wake of the Fed’s pivot last week," he added.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin suggested the US central bank would cut interest rates if recent progress on inflation continues, but said he’s still looking for conviction that inflation is heading back to the Fed’s 2% target.
“If you’re going to assume that inflation comes down nicely, of course we would respond appropriately,” Barkin said in a broadcast interview with Yahoo Finance.
Barkin's comments follow some more hawkish words from fellow Fed officials as the US central bank arttempted to rein some of the optimism pouring through the markets.
9:40am: No stopping equities for now
Stocks continued to march ahead on Tuesday fuelled by hopes of early cuts to interest rates in 2024.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 49.49 points, 0.1%, at 37,355.51, the S&P 500 was up 7.65 points, 0.2%, at 4,748.21 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 41.19 points, 0.3%, at 14,946.38.
In economic news, housing starts leapt to their highest level since May last month, beating economists’ expectations and signalling easing housing market conditions as mortgage rates fell and homebuilder confidence recovered.
New residential construction rose almost 15% to 1.56 million homes in November from 1.36 million in October, the US commerce department said on Tuesday, above forecasts of 1.35 million starts.
However, newly issued building permits, a barometer for future construction, declined 2.5% on a monthly basis to 1.46 million.
Elsewhere, there will be more 'Fedspeak' to guide the market with Fed speakers, including Barkin, Bostic and Goolsbee.
7:00am: Wall Street seen flat consolidating recent gains
Equities in New York are expected to open little changed on Tuesday as investors take stock of recent strong gains on the back of hopes for early rate cuts in 2024.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while those for the S&P 500 were 0.1% higher and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1%.
Markets have ramped up expectations for interest rate cuts in 2024 despite Federal Reserve officials pushing back against the more overly optimistic predictions.
Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets noted for now, markets remain steadfast in their approach, holding on to gains ahead of the key festive period.
“However, there is a feeling that we are pricing in a best-case scenario for 2024, and thus the risk appears firmly skewed towards potential disappointment,” he added.
“Whilst somewhat perverse, the best hope for equity market bulls would be a weaker economic picture, forcing the banks to put their foot on the gas,” he suggested.
In economic news, new residential construction is expected to have fallen slightly to an annualised rate of 1.36 million homes in November, down from 1.37 million in October.
In company news, parcel delivery group FedEx (NYSE:FDX) is expected to report lower revenue for its latest quarter, compared to a year earlier, but post stronger earnings of $3.94 a share, up from $3.07.