Stocks hit session highs ahead of the closing bell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 ending at records as investors appeared to shrug off President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, along with minutes of the Fed’s November meeting that pointed to a more gradual pace of interest-rate cuts.
“Minutes from the November FOMC meeting give away little in terms of the coming December meeting, even as the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon eased risks to oil and rates at the margin — without offering any finality on Israel-Iran risks,” Krishna Guha and Marco Casiraghi of Evercore ISI wrote in a note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a gain of 123.74 points, or 0.3%, at 44,860.31, extending its winning streak to five sessions.
The S&P 500 rose for a seventh straight day, posting a gain of 34.26 points, or 0.6%, to end at 6,021.63.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 119.46 points, or 0.6%, closing at 19,174.30, off 0.6% from its record close of 19,298.76 set on Nov. 11.
