(MENAFN- AFP) US stocks moved higher in a holiday-shortened session Tuesday after a report showed a bigger than expected jump in durable goods orders in November.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.18 (0.19 percent) to 16,324.79.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 2.29 (0.13 percent) to 1,830.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.85 (0.04 percent) to 4,150.75.
The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose 3.5 percent in November, the best progress in six months and a big improvement from October, when orders fell.
Non-defense aircraft orders were up 21.8 percent, communications equipment 13 percent, computers 5.3 percent, machine tools 3.8 percent and cars 3.3 percent, the Department said.
US stocks have been on a tear in recent days, breaking new records in three of the last four sessions. The S&P 500 is up more than 28 percent since the start of 2013.
The stock market closes early Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's Christmas holiday, when markets will be closed all day.
Electric-car manufacturer Tesla Motors rose 7.0 percent after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed a five-star safety rating for Tesla's Model S vehicle.
Johnson & Johnson slipped 0.1 percent following a Wall Street Journal report that it is in exclusive talks to with the Carlyle Group over the sale of the pharmaceutical giant's blood-testing unit for $4 billion. Carlyle rose 0.1 percent.
Retail giant Target lost 0.5 percent following reports that US and state regulators are investigating a data breach at stores that Target has said could have affected some 40 million customers nationwide.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.96 percent from 2.93 percent Monday, while the 30-year increased to 3.87 percent from 3.84 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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