Investing.com -- The S&P 500 continued to rack up gains Tuesday, closing the gap on its march toward a record high as the rally in stocks broadens beyond tech to other sectors including energy and materials.
By 14:47 ET (19: GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 traded 0.4%, higher, and now is just under 1% away from its all-time closing high of 4,796.56. The NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.5%.
Energy, materials attract bullish bets as rally broadens
Materials and energy led the market higher, with the latter supported by a rise in oil prices even as the U.S. announced plans to expand a naval task force to protect shipping through the Red Sea.
Materials including The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS), FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC), and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) were led higher following a jump in commodities including copper amid ongoing bets that rate cuts will bolster economic growth and metals demand.
Google to settle lawsuit for $700 million; Microsoft gets Oppenheimer backing as 'top AI pick'
In big tech, Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google has agreed to pay $700 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the search giant by U.S. states and consumers over anticompetitive practices at its Play app store on Android devices, court filings showed on Monday. Alphabet stock rose 1%.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), meanwhile, was trading below the flatline even as Oppenheimer dubbed it as a "top large pick" for 2024, citing the tech giant's "unique AI position."
The tech giant, Oppenheimer adds, is set for a generative AI boost and unlike its competitors is less likely to face GPU supply capacity issues.
Kenvue climbs after scoring legal victory in Tylenol class action; Affirm deepens Walmart (NYSE:WMT) relationship
Kenvue Inc (NYSE:KVUE) rose more than 3% as the consumer-health company, a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) spinoff, scored a major legal victory after a judge ruled in a favor of the company, in a class action lawsuit alleging that its exposure to Tylenol was linked to autism.
Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFRM) said its “buy now, pay later” partnership with Walmart would expand to more than 4,500 of the latter's self-checkout kiosks, sending its share price up 15%.
(Peter Nurse contributed to this report.)