US close: Stocks trade higher as investors digest comments from Fed officials

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 on Tuesday as investors digested comments from a number of top Federal Reserve officials.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.56% at 33,704.10, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.70% to 3,919.25 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.01% firmer at 10,742.63.

The Dow closed 186.45 points higher on Tuesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

Fears regarding higher interest rates were in focus early on Tuesday after Atlanta Federal Reserve president Raphael Bostic said overnight that interest rates should rise above 5% and stay there for a "long time" and San Francisco Fed head Mary Daly stated the central bank should continue to raise rates, albeit at a slower pace.

The comments came ahead of a speech from Fed chairman Jerome Powell early on Tuesday, in which he said the central bank must stay politically independent in its efforts to tame inflation.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index declined to a six-month low of 89.8 in December, down from 91.9 in November, as owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months worsened by eight points to -51% and inflation remained the single most important business problem, with 32% of owners reporting it as their top issue in operating their business.

Still on data, US wholesale inventories rose 1% month-on-month in November to $933.1bn, according to the Census Bureau, in line with preliminary estimates. On an annual basis, wholesale inventories rose 20.9%, slightly below the 21.9% increase registered in the prior month.

In the corporate space, Bed Bath & Beyond reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss prior to the open and said it was exploring a number of options going forward, including bankruptcy.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $56.47 2.15%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $250.51 1.58%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $41.95 1.40%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $273.88 1.39%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $357.45 1.24%
Visa Inc. (V) $221.09 1.14%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $191.24 1.11%
American Express Co. (AXP) $152.00 1.06%
3M Co. (MMM) $128.13 1.06%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $36.70 0.96%