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Stocks were mostly flat on Tuesday after reaching fresh all-time highs as traders weighed the possibility of even more fiscal stimulus being approved by Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrials sidled lower 6.1 points at 30,397.87
The S&P 500 advanced 7.45 points to 3,742.81.
The NASDAQ lopped off 6.89 points to 12,892.53.
Boeing rose 0.8% as its beleaguered 737 Max jet flew once again in the U.S. Health-care was the best-performing S&P 500 sector, advancing 0.7%.
The House passed a bill late Monday to increase the direct payments to $2,000 from the $600 included in a relief package recently signed by President Donald Trump. Trump had previously called for a $2,000 direct payment to Americans. Senate Republicans, however, have opposed larger direct payments despite Trump’s demands.
Wall Street was coming off a strong session, with sentiment boosted by Trump signing a $900-billion coronavirus relief package into law.
Stocks are heading into year-end with surprisingly strong gains. Entering Tuesday’s session, the S&P 500 was up 15.6% for 2020 and the
Dow up 6.5% over that time period. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, has surged more than 43% in 2020 as investors flocked into major tech names such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
The number of coronavirus cases keeps rising in the U.S., however, casting doubt over the economic recovery heading into the new year.
Over the past week, at least 184,000 new infections have been reported in the U.S. per day, according to an analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were raising, lowering yields to Monday’s 0.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices collected 38 cents to $48.009 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.60 to $1,887.00
