US: Stocks resume upward climb after solid retail data

WALL Street stocks climbed modestly on Tuesday following solid consumer data and Federal Reserve comments seen as fairly dovish.

Data from the Conference Board showed US consumer confidence rose more than expected in November, while the National Retail Federation reported higher sales over the critical five-day shopping weekend that includes “Black Friday.”

Analysts also pointed to comments from US central bank officials noting recent progress in reducing inflation.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he was “encouraged” by recent progress on the economy and more confident inflation was returning to the Fed’s desired level.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.2 per cent up at 35,416.98.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to 4,554.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3 per cent to 14,281.76.

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Tuesday’s gains marked a resumption of the upward trend for most of November after equities pulled back on Monday.

Among individual companies, shares in cloud security firm Zscaler rose 1.0 per cent after forecasting higher sales than expected.

Tesla jumped 4.5 per cent ahead of an event later this week to mark the first deliveries of its much anticipated Cybertruck vehicle. AFP