US close: Stocks higher as traders digest comments from Fed speakers

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks closed higher early on Tuesday as market participants digested comments from a pair of central bankers.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.18% at 34,098.10, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.36% to 4,003.58 and 11,174.41, respectively.

The Dow closed 397.82 points higher on Tuesday, easily reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

China was in focus on Tuesday after the country reported its first Covid-related deaths on the mainland since May, sparking fears that it may reinstitute restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus and pushing investors away from growth stocks and into defensive sectors. China's three-week Covid case tally has topped 253,000 and the government stated the daily average is increasing.

Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve's Loretta Mester stated that lowering inflation remained the bank's primary goal but indicated that the Fed was ready to downshift from its 75 basis point rate hikes.

However, Esther George said ample US savings would assist in buffering households but may also lead to higher interest rates needing to be implemented in order to calm spending. George noted that if savings were concentrated in wealthier households it would likely fail to provide any real boost to spending.

On the macro front, the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing index edged slightly higher in November, jumping to -9 from October's print of -10, which was the lowest reading since May 2020.

Investors also patiently awaited the publication of minutes from the Federal Reserve's November meeting on Wednesday, with traders preparing for policymakers to announce that they'll likely continue to raise rates as part of an effort to tame inflation.

In the corporate space, Best Buy traded higher after the retailer posted an earnings beat and raised its full-year guidance, while Dick's Sporting Goods delivered a quarterly revenue and profit beat, as well as better-than-expected Q3 sales.

HP reported an 11% drop in quarterly sales and issued earnings guidance that came up short of analysts' expectations as the tech giant announced it would cut as many as 6,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs in what it called "a challenging environment".

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.82 3.04%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $149.25 3.04%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $41.79 2.96%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $51.58 2.79%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $185.89 2.57%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $324.88 2.56%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $237.26 2.19%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $105.97 2.06%
Visa Inc. (V) $210.33 1.94%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $149.10 1.65%