Nasdaq, S&P 500 inch higher as investors digest Fed officials' comments

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Nasdaq and S&P 500 edged higher on Tuesday as tech-related shares extended recent gains and investors digested reassuring comments from Federal Reserve policymakers.

Two policymakers said they see inflation heading down to the U.S. central bank's 2% target and that the job market is "solid."

They stayed away from signaling whether they would support another interest rate cut later this month. On Monday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he was inclined "at present" to support another rate cut this month.

The Nasdaq hit an intraday record high earlier.

"This is a market that has performed extremely well. You want it to pause, take a breather and wait for another catalyst to push it higher," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA ) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Investors will pay close attention to the U.S. monthly employment report on Friday. A November reading of private payrolls is due on Wednesday.

Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN ) rose 1.1%. The company announced a new slate of artificial intelligence platforms, known as foundation models, at its annual AWS conference.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.75 points, or 0.08%, to 44,746.25. The S&P 500 climbed 2.30 points, or 0.04%, to 6,049.45 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 45.56 points, or 0.23%, to 19,449.51.

The S&P 500 rose 5.7% in November as former U.S. President Donald Trump recaptured the White House in the Nov. 5 election and his Republican Party swept both houses of Congress. The index is up about 27% for the year to date.



U.S.-listed shares of South Korean companies declined, with iShares MSCI South Korea ETF down 1.7%, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the country.

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA ) fell 2.2% after data showed the automaker's sales of China-made electric vehicles fell 4.3% year-on-year to 78,856 in November.

Source: Investing.com