Wall Street extends rally

By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business

The US stock market was off to the races on Tuesday, extending its rally from the start of the week as all three major indexes were sharply higher.

The S&P 500, Wall Street’s broadest gauge, was up 2.1% midday, while the Dow rose 1.4%, or a little more than 500 points. The Nasdaq Composite, which had lagged behind the others on Monday, gained 3.1%.

“Forget about a ‘turnaround’ for now, this Tuesday is looking more like a terrific one,” said analysts at Bespoke Investments of the rally.

It has been a volatile few weeks in the market, which was first shaken by worries about the Omicron variant, then by the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it might end its pandemic-era stimulus program sooner than expected.

But Monday’s ascent may have had more to do with technical factors: It’s the end of the year and the major indexes have decent returns to show for themselves. The S&P is up nearly 25%, while the Nasdaq has climbed 22% and the Dow has gained almost 17%. For investors rethinking where they want their money, this might be a time of shifting their portfolio around.

Next week Friday is also what’s known as “quadruple witching” when contracts on four types of financial assets expire. It’s often a period of some volatility, and investors may already be preparing for it.

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