The S&P 500 closed at a record high Tuesday after stocks rallied seconds before the closing bell, as investors shook off headwinds on the global trade and inflation fronts.
The broad market index gained 0.24% to a record close of 6,129.58, after touching an intraday record of 6,129.63 before the final bell. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.07% at 20,041.26, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points, or 0.02%, to finish the session at 44,556.34.
Energy was the best-performing sector in the S&P 500, rising 1.9%. Halliburton and Valero Energy led the advance. Tech stocks also ticked higher.
That said, pullbacks about 1% in consumer discretionary and 1.2% for communication services weighed on the broader market. Meta Platforms closed down 2.7% and snapped a 20-day winning streak.
“Overall, the market is still trying to break out of the consolidation it’s been in since early December,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. “This week kicks off the retail portion of earnings season, but news out of Washington, especially on the tariff front, could continue to be a wild card for the markets.”
Wall Street is coming off a winning week for the major averages. The Dow gained roughly 0.6% last week, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.5%. The Nasdaq rose 2.6%.
Much of last week’s advance came Thursday after President Donald Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs on countries with levies on U.S. goods soothed investors who worried the tariffs would be more stringent.
Stocks have been choppy to start the year. Investors have paid close attention to inflation data, hoping that it will continue to ease and keep the Federal Reserve on its path toward lowering rates.
“I think there’s a not-zero chance that the Federal Reserve reverses course next year as inflation becomes a 2026 story,” said Steve Wyett, chief investment strategist at BOK Financial. “That’s not being reflected in asset values at the present time. I’m more optimistic than I am pessimistic, but I think we also need to be realistic.”
