S&P 500 notches fresh record, Dow adds nearly 500 points for first close above 49,000: Live updates

The three leading U.S. indexes finished higher on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.62% to 6,944.82, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.65% to end the session at 23,547.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 484.90 points, or 0.99%, to reach 49,462.08 — its first close above the 49,000 level.

— Sean Conlon

Chevron pulled back on Tuesday following a big run on the back of the U.S. strike on Venezuela.

Shares of the oil company slipped more than 4%, giving up much of its roughly 5% gain on Monday. Still, the stock is up more than 3% compared with a week ago.

Chevron has been deemed a key winner as the only major U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela. But investors are also cognizant of the long road ahead to bring the crude-rich country back to its producing heyday.

— Alex Harring, Spencer Kimball

Venezuela's long-defaulted bonds are suddenly one of the hottest trades in emerging markets, but some are warning that the rally may be running ahead of reality.

Prices on the country's benchmark notes due in October 2026 have surged to about 43 cents on the dollar, more than doubling since August. The rally comes as traders reassess recovery prospects on the distressed securities following the surprise removal of President Nicolas Maduro and a shift in U.S. policy that has opened the door to a potential restructuring of the nation's debt.

— Yun Li

The two Kevins — Hassett and Warsh — are running neck and neck again in the derby to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to prediction markets site Kalshi.

Though Hassett, the National Economic Council chief, had been leading former Fed Governor Warsh by a wide margin recently, the two now have respective odds of 41% and 40% to get the nod from President Donald Trump. The president has said he will name his pick sometime in January.

Only current Fed Governor Christopher Waller is registering elsewhere on the site, with his chances put at just 13%.

— Jeff Cox

Silver is on pace for a record close above $80 for the first time. It was last higher by 4.4% to 80.08 an ounce.

The precious metal was on a tear in late 2025, ending the year up more than 140%. It breached the $80 milestone for the first time in late December on an intraday basis, but did not close above that level. It's extending gains past that marker to start the new year.

— Sarah Min

Competition to build fully autonomous humanoid robots is intensifying, with Tesla facing rising pressure from rivals such as Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics.

Boston Dynamics at the CES 2026 conference on Monday announced a partnership with Google DeepMind to bring Google's Gemini Robotics AI foundation models to its next-generation Atlas robot, which it also unveiled at the annual trade show for the first time.

To be sure, an engineer remotely piloted the Atlas robot from nearby for CES demonstration, although the company told NBC News that the bot will move on its own. Boston Dynamics said that a product version of the robot that will help assemble cars is already in production and will be deployed by 2028 at Hyundai's electric-vehicle manufacturing facility near Georgia, according to an NBC News report.

The partnership announcement potentially undercuts the robotics case for Tesla, which has increasingly focused its attention away from its electric vehicles and onto its Optimus humanoid ambitions. Shares of Tesla dropped more than 4% on Tuesday.

— Pia Singh

Retail stocks outperformed on Tuesday, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) slated for its best daily performance since last November. The exchange-traded fund was also on pace for its third straight gain.

The fund's leaders included:

• Camping World, up 11%
• Warby Parker, up 8%
• Bath & Body Works, up 8%
• Victoria's Secret & Co, up 7%
• Gap, up 6%

— Nicholas Wells, Lisa Kailai Han

The S&P 500 joined the Dow in trading at all-time highs on Tuesday.

The broad index surpassed its prior record from late last month in intraday trading. Wall Street will now be watching to see if it can remain above its previous closing high of 6,932.05.

Health care and material stocks led the surge to records, with both sectors trading nearly 2% higher. The energy sector restricted gains, falling more than 2%.

— Alex Harring, Nick Wells

Several Wall Street firms initiated coverage on Wealthfront Tuesday, weeks after the digital financial advisor started trading on the Nasdaq.

JPMorgan was among those who gave the stock an overweight rating.

"We see Wealthfront operating products that lead to better outcomes for their customers, which we expect will drive more certain longer term growth for its customers and thus higher asset growth for Wealthfront," analyst Kenneth Worthington wrote in a note to clients.

His $16 price target suggests 17% upside from Monday's close.

Wells Fargo also gave Wealthfront an overweight rating, while its price target was slightly higher at $16.50.

"We are bullish on: (1) the strong growth track record supporting our 3-yr forward EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 15.4%; (2) reasonable current valuation, which we think reflects a post-IPO "wait and see" stance; and (3) possible upside surprises for unclear items like Cash net deposits and Mortgage uptake," Robert Ryan said in a note.

In addition, RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an outperform rating and Citizens rated it market outperform, while Goldman Sachs rated the stock neutral and KeyBanc Capital Markets gave it a sector weight rating.

— Michelle Fox

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Credit score stocks — Shares of credit score providers were trading lower after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte criticized the companies' pricing in a social media post on X. Shares of TransUnion lost 4%, and Equifax fell more than 5%. Fair Isaac stock slipped nearly 4%.
• Cooling equipment makers — Shares of Trane Technologies, Johnson Controls and Modine Manufacturing all fell in trading on Tuesday as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang noted that its six-chip Vera Rubin platform is more energy efficient than its Blackwell chip and "no water chillers are necessary for data centers" using them. Trane shares were down 4%, Johnson Controls fell almost 8%, while Modine fell 10%.
• SoFi — The fintech stock tumbled almost 10% after Bank of America resumed coverage of the company at a underperform rating and suggested there was more downside ahead. Other fintech stocks including LendingClub, Upstart Holdings and Chime Financial were also lower.

Read more here.

— Christina Cheddar Berk, Sarah Min

Health care was one of the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500 Tuesday, rising 1.6%. That puts the sector on pace for its best day since Nov. 25, when it jumped 2.2%.

The S&P 500 materials sector was the other top performer of the day, gaining 2%.

Leading Tuesday's advance were the following stocks:

• Moderna: Up 10.8%
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals: up 3.7%
• Intuitive Surgical: up 4%
• DexCom: up 3%
• Biogen: 3.2%

— Fred Imbert

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 240 points, or 0.5%, to reach a new all-time high on Tuesday of 49,221.80.

The move higher comes just one day after the index posted a new all-time intraday high and record close. The biggest upside impact on Tuesday came from UnitedHealth, Amazon and Goldman Sachs.

— Sean Conlon, Nick Wells

It appears the Dow Jones Industrial Average was on Santa's nice list, while the S&P 500 was deemed naughty by the man in the North Pole.

The "Santa Claus rally" period — which stretches from the final five trading days of December and the first two of January — concluded on Monday. The 30-stock Dow posted an impressive 1.1% in that time. The S&P 500 didn't fare as well, however, losing 0.1%.

"The lack of a rally [in the S&P 500] can be a preliminary indicator of tough times to come," wrote Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Trader's Almanac. "This was certainly the case in 2008 and 2000. A 4.0% decline in 2000 foreshadowed the bursting of the tech bubble and a 2.5% loss in 2008 preceded the second worst bear market in history."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Fred Imbert

Service-sector activity in December fell to its slowest pace in eight months, S&P Global reported Tuesday.

The firm's headline services PMI declined to 52.5 for the month, down from 54.1 in November and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 53.0. The diffusion index represents the percentage of companies reporting expansion, so anything above 50 indicates growth, albeit at a slower pace in the case of December.

Driving the weaker reading was a decline in new business inflows, falling to their lowest in a year and a half, as well as waning confidence in the future and flat hiring activity.

"Business activity continued to expand in December, rounding off another quarter of robust growth, but the resilience of the US economy is showing signs of cracking," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"We also enter 2026 with future output expectations running much lower than seen at the start of 2025, fueling concerns that December's slowdown and job market malaise could spill over into the new year," he added.

— Jeff Cox

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began Tuesday's session little changed.

The broad market index rose 0.1% just after the opening bell, while the 30-stock Dow dropped 22 points, or 0.1%.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.

— Sean Conlon

Deutsche Bank believes that Shake Shack offers investors an attractive entry point at its current levels.

The bank upgraded the fast-casual burger chain to buy from hold, despite lowering its price target to $105 from $115. This revised price forecast still implies an upside of 26% from where shares closed on Monday.

Analyst Lauren Silberman said that the stock offers an attractive valuation given its growth potential, alongside a compelling catalyst path in the first half of the year. She also noted that the stock could be a beneficiary of the upcoming World Cup.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of ⁠American International Group fell more than 1% in the premarket on Tuesday after the global insurance company announced that CEO Peter Zaffino is going to step ‌down ‌by mid-2026 and transition ​into the role of executive chair of ⁠the board.

Eric Andersen, who served as president of Aon from 2020 until 2025, will replace Zaffino as president and CEO-elect, effective Feb. 16.

— Sean Conlon

Here are the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Vistra — Shares rose 4.7% after the electricity generation company said it agreed to acquire Cogentrix Energy for roughly $4 billion.
• Microchip Technology — The stock advanced 4.2% after Microchip Technology issued fiscal third-quarter revenue guidance of about $1.185 billion, higher than prior forecast of $1.109 billion to $1.149 billion.
• Onestream — Shares surged 22% after Bloomberg News, citing people familiar, reported that buyout firm Hg is in advanced talks to acquire the financial software maker.

Read the full list here.

— Sarah Min

European leaders on Tuesday issued a joint statement to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed interest in Greenland, saying security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively.

"The Kingdom of Denmark – including Greenland – is part of NATO," the statement said, according to a letter published by Denmark's Prime Minister's Office on X.

"Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them," they continued. Read more.

— Sam Meredith

Energy stocks ticked higher on Tuesday, adding to their strong gains from the previous session, as traders bet companies in the space will be able to benefit from the U.S.' ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil climbed 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. SLB advanced 2.2%, while Halliburton rose 0.2%.

— Fred Imbert

The market is underappreciating the value that Nvidia and Microsoft will bring to the table, according to Wedbush's Dan Ives.

Ives appeared Monday afternoon on CNBC's "Closing Bell" ahead of Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang's keynote speech at the 2026 CES show, which investors are closely watching. Nvidia shares have wavered in recent months — up just 0.3% in the past three months — and the name is not alone, Ives pointed out, calling attention to Microsoft as an another overlooked Big Tech stock.

"Investors are kind of yawning at what Nvidia stock is doing right here. And I think we sit here six to nine months from now, I think it's a table-pounder opportunity to own Nvidia, to own Microsoft and to obviously own names like Oracle as well," Ives, Wedbush Securities' global head of technology research, said. "I think investors are underestimating what the demand is going to look like for Nvidia ... 2026, I see as a golden year for Microsoft."

Ives said he believes Microsoft, which is up roughly 12% over the past year, is still in the early innings of the AI cycle, despite investors concerns that Azure growth rates are going down.

— Pia Singh

Nvidia on Monday said it is working with robotaxi operators in hopes of having them use the company's AI chips and Drive AV software stack to power their fleets of autonomous vehicles as soon as 2027.

Around that time, the chipmaker said that it hopes to power partner deployment of "Level 4" robotaxis, meaning vehicles capable of driving without human intervention in pre-defined regions, Xinzhou Wu, Nvidia's vice president of automotive, said at a self-driving demonstration in San Francisco last month.

"We will probably start with a limited availability but work with the partner for us to get our footing," Wu said.

Read more about Nvidia's plans here.

— Kif Leswing

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly described Nvidia's plans for working with robotaxi partners.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each gained less than 0.1% shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Monday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15 points, hovering just above the flatline.

— Pia Singh