US: Stocks lifted by seasonal trading despite attacks

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks opened higher Tuesday, with positive sentiment from the market's recent records and seasonal factors offsetting disturbing headlines about attacks Turkey and Germany.

"The major indices continued to be propped up by the seasonality trade and the reluctance to take profits ahead of 2017 when investment income tax rates will presumably be lower," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Even so, news of the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey and a deadly truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market limited US stock gains Monday.

Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,9850.79.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to 2,269.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 per cent to 5,477.84.

AFP