US close: Stocks close higher as investors continue to await Jackson Hole symposium

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday as vaccine headlines helped markets start the week on a high note.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% at 35,366.26, while the S&P 500 was 0.15% stronger at 4,486.23 and the Nasdaq Composite saw off the session 0.52% firmer at 15,019.80.

The Dow Jones closed 30.55 points higher on Tuesday, modestly extending yesterday's rally as news that US regulators had granted full approval for Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine continued to boost sentiment.

Market participants were also still patiently awaiting the Jackson Hole symposium later in the week, expected to be a market-moving event, with central bankers predicted to outline future plans for tapering monetary stimulus after the Federal Reserve started discussions aimed at pulling back its $120.0bn a month bond-buying program by the end of 2021.

On the macro front, new home sales in the US edged past analysts' forecasts in July, according to the Department of Commerce, which revealed new home sales rose 1.0% month-on-month to hit an annual rate of 708,000 - ahead of expectations for a print of 700,000.

In the corporate space, retailer Best Buy reported better-than-expected second-quarter results ahead of the bell, with the group raising its full-year same-store sales outlook after posting comparable sales growth of 20% year-on-year, while casino operators Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts were trading higher after Macau eased travel restrictions.