Investing.com – US stocks at record highs on Tuesday buoyed by signs of progress on tax reform after the Senate Budget Committee approved the Republican tax bill, a major step forward toward overhauling the US tax system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 23836.71. The S&P 500 closed 0.98% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6912.36, up 0.49%.
The Senate budget committee voted 12-11 in favour of the tax bill, which aims to overhaul the US tax system. The upper chamber vote to approve the bill is slated for Thursday.
Signs of progress on the tax reform front comes a little over a week after the US House of Representatives passed its version of tax legislation. For the bill to reached US President Donald Trump’s desk, the two chambers must agree on a final version.
Also adding to positive sentiment on Wall Street was economic data showing Consumer optimism surged in November amid bullish expectations for economic growth.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge rose to 129.5 in November from 126.2. in October, beating economists’ forecast for a reading of 124. That was highest reading since the index hit 123/6 in November 2000.
Renewed geopolitical uncertainty, however, briefly threated the rally after North Korea fired a missile in the waters off the coast of Japan.
“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile from South Pyongan Province early Wednesday”, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) up 3.5%, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) up 2.4% and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) up 2.3%
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) down 0.6%, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) down 0.2% and Nike (NYSE:NKE) down 0.1%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.