US stocks close for Christmas at record highs

Traders surround the post of specialist Charles Boedinghaus, left center, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

NEW YORK – US stocks continued their record-breaking run Tuesday, closing before a Christmas break at a new all-time high following solid reports on durable goods and new home sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both hit their highest ever levels, rising 62.94 points (0.39 percent) to 16,357.55 and 5.33 (0.29 percent) to 1,833.32 respectively.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tacked on 6.51 (0.16 percent) to 4,155.41.

Investors were cheered by a report showing orders of durable goods surged 3.5 percent in November, more than expected.

And, although new home sales in November declined slightly from the October level, the figure still bested expectations.

“It’s a holly, jolly data Christmas for the economy as all signs point to an accelerating economy,” said economist Joel Naroff.

The S&P 500 is up more than 28 percent since the start of the year, a rally sustained by the US Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy and generally better economic data.

And the market’s latest big run-up came despite last week’s decision by the Fed to scale back stimulus because of the better economy.

Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities, called the data “positive” and said overall sentiment remains strong.

“The market has had a good year,” James said. “There is no reason for people to be selling things today, so why sell?”