Wall Street Close: Apple boosts Wall Street, stimulus optimism lives on

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.14%.
• The S&P 500 SPX gained 1.30%, within a series of record gains of late. 
• The Nasdaq Composite put on 1.25%, as all three benchmarks get a lift from Apple. 

Stocks on Wall Street rallied on Tuesday, with the benchmarks ending close to their record levels.

Investor’s optimism over stimulus ahead of what is expected to be confirmation of easy monetary policy from the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year helped spur on buying.

There has been increased liquidity and ultra-low lending rates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite the holiday season, buying volumes remained elevated.

The recent optimism over a vaccine has sent the S&P500 to a series of record highs last week.   

Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited top congressional leaders to meet later on Tuesday in an effort to finalize a massive government spending deal and reach an agreement on a new package of coronavirus relief.  

Pelosi and McConnell along with McCarthy and Schumer are expected to talk today at 2100GMT.

Investors are in anticipation of an agreement and a package to be passed by Congress and immanently. 

The Fed is also expected to signal low-interest rates for the foreseeable future in its two-day meeting starting Tuesday.

The recent coronavirus vaccine roll-out is expected to improve the central bank’s 2021 outlook 

Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.14% to end at 30,201.68 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.30% to 3,694.77. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.25% to 12,595.06. 

Apple Inc AAPL was the top boost to all three indexes on Tuesday, trading to its highest since September following news that the heavyweight tech company plans to increase iPhone production by 30% in the first half of 2021.

• Fitch US Banks 2021 sector outlook turns stable

As for key data, the Manufacturing activity in the US is now growing at a slower rate.

”The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped to 4.9 pts in December (from 6.3pts) as new orders and shipments lifted slightly and inventories fell as demand outpaced production,” analysts at ANZ bank explained.

”November industrial production was slightly stronger than expected, rising 0.4% m/m. This was fuelled by a jump in motor vehicles and parts. Capacity utilisation rose to 73.3% – the highest since March.”