US close: Dow closes above 19,900 for first time
The Dow Jones index flirted with the 20,000 milestone on Tuesday but ultimately had to make-do with second best of a seventh straight record finish as traders prepared for an almost certain interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve the following day.
Record finishes all round saw the Dow close up 0.58% at 9,911.21, the first time it has finished above that level, while the S&P 500 rose 0.65% to 2,271.72 and the Nasdaq finished up 0.96% to 5,463.83.
The Dow has now risen around 9% in the five weeks since Donald Trump won the presidential election.
While many eyes were on Trump Tower as the president-elect also picked his energy secretary and met rapper Kanye West to discuss "multicultural issues", the Fed remained a key focus at the south end of Manhattan.
Wall Street has priced in with almost 100% certainty the second US rate rise in a decade, with the Fed predicted to hike the base rate a quarter of a percentage point to a new target range of 0.50-0.75%, from 0.25-0.5%.
The Federal Open Markets Committee will make an announcement on Wednesday around 1900 GMT and Fed head Janet Yellen's comments and the 'dot plot' median expectations around future hikes will be keenly watched.
"We think there is a major threat for the dollar bulls that the Janet Yellen may disappoint them tomorrow," said analyst Naeem Aslam at Think Markets.
"The strength of the dollar is something which the Fed has started to pay attention and Donald Trump is not going to be very much happy with the higher dollar when he takes the office next year.
"Therefore, we think the Fed is not going to be very hawkish with respect their future rate hike. However, what is also important is to keep an eye on the Fed dot plot, so far those dots have been moving downward this year, but we think that the dot plot map may change its direction and the dollar bulls may start to pay more attention to this and this could take more wind of the gold price."
Analyst Chris Beauchamp at IG added that traders expecting a big slump before the end of the year "should be prepared for disappointment" as he felt the next two weeks "will most likely see the market drift, before the real work begins anew in January".
Economist Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said he expected no change in the dotplot for two rate hikes both next year and in 2018.
"We fully appreciate that fiscal easing on the scale proposed by President-elect Trump, or indeed anything like it, very likely would propel inflation to a pace requiring much bigger increases in rates," he said.
"But we very much doubt that FOMC members want to be accused of seeking to influence Congress and the new administration, given how unpopular the Fed is already with Republican politicians."
On Tuesday's data front, American import prices dropped in November for the first time in three months, as fuel prices fell.
The import price index declined 0.3%, while fuel imports slid 3.9%. Excluding fuel, the price of imports slipped 0.1%, while export prices were down 0.1%.
Among corporates, tech behemoths such as Intel, IBM and Apple, led a tech rally after the sector missed the Trump boat in recent weeks.
Exxon was a star riser too, climbing nearly 2% as Trump nominated the oil giant's chief executive Rex Tillerson to be the new US Secretary of State.
A major faller was data analytics firm Inovalon Holdings, which plunged after downgrading its earnings guidance overnight.
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.80 2.31%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $92.58 1.76%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $168.29 1.69%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $115.19 1.67%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $52.30 1.47%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $136.54 1.46%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.59 1.39%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.83 1.33%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $62.98 1.30%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.36 1.16%
Dow Jones - Fallers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $74.74 -0.45%
3M Co. (MMM) $178.83 -0.45%
General Electric Co. (GE) $31.74 -0.38%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.75 -0.33%
Boeing Co. (BA) $156.67 -0.32%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.85 -0.20%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $110.28 -0.07%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $84.76 0.04%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $85.18 0.06%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.79 0.11%
S&P 500 - Risers
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $41.63 4.52%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $40.84 4.26%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $33.87 3.90%
Hess Corp. (HES) $65.14 3.56%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $15.95 3.50%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $34.30 3.19%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.30 3.15%
CA Inc. (CA) $32.73 2.86%
Exelon Corp. (EXC) $35.46 2.75%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $80.55 2.73%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $110.01 -4.41%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $30.25 -3.20%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $32.07 -3.17%
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $33.16 -2.87%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $32.34 -2.82%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $108.99 -2.67%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $29.52 -2.38%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $20.38 -2.25%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $15.04 -2.08%
Navient Corporation (NAVI) $16.36 -2.04%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $40.84 4.26%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $103.19 3.45%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.30 3.15%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $168.87 3.11%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $198.15 2.97%
CA Inc. (CA) $32.73 2.86%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $26.90 2.71%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $27.04 2.66%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $67.90 2.43%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $65.10 2.34%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $110.01 -4.41%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $48.21 -1.39%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $382.00 -1.32%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $29.82 -1.29%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $48.60 -0.61%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $159.77 -0.35%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $43.90 -0.20%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $120.03 -0.18%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $34.96 -0.09%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $84.58 -0.07%