Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed above 5,500 for the time ever Tuesday, underpinned by a surge in Tesla and optimism over rate cuts after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cheered recent progress on inflation.
At 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT), The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to a record close of 5,510.65, marking the 32nd record close this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 147 points, or 0.4%, while thre NASDAQ Composite rose 0.7% to all-time record close of 18,029.18.
Powell gives nod to inflation progress, but says more confidence needed to cut
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed has made "quite a bit of progress and in bringing inflation back down" toward the central bank's target, though added more confidence that inflation was a sustained path lower would needed before the rate-cutting process gets underway.
Traders now see a 64% change of rate cut in September, up from about 61% last week, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
The remarks come just a day ahead of the minutes of the Fed’s June meeting and more insight into the labor market, with nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
Ahead of the monthly jobs report, the May job openings and labor turnover report, a gauge of demand for labor showed showed vacancies at 8.14M, up from 7.92M in April and above economists forecast of 7.96M.
The labor sector has been running hot despite sticky inflation and high interest rates, and is also a key consideration for the Fed in cutting interest rates.
Tesla jumps after better-than-expected Q2 deliveries
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 10% after the EV maker said it had delivered 443,956 EVs in the second quarter, beating estimates of 438,019.
The better-than-expected deliveries in Q2 marked "a huge comeback" by the electric vehicle maker, with the worst now likely in the rearview mirror for the company, Wedbush Securities said Tuesday.
The update on deliveries comes just weeks ahead of Tesla's Q2 results due Jul. 23, and its RoboTaxi Day on Aug. 8, Wedbush added, with the latter event expected to see the EV maker tout the next part of its autonomous story.
Paramount Global in play?
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARAA) rose nearly 8% after The New York Times reported that billionaire Barry Diller was considering a bid for the firm. The news come just as several media reports suggest Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) could be exploring a streaming partnership with Paramount Global/
Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock fell nearly 1% after the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Justice Department is waiting for the planemaker to accept a plea deal to settle felony fraud charges related to two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes.
Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ:PSNY) stock fell more than 1% after the EV maker reported a first-quarter operating loss.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)