U.S. stocks near record as oil gains, bonds fall

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks traded near a record, oil posted its longest winning streak in four months and Treasuries fell as the majority of financial markets reopened following the holiday weekend.

The S&P 500 Index extended its monthly advance, the Nasdaq Composite Index headed toward a record high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average approached 20,000. Treasury yields rose amid soft demand in an auction of two-year notes. Gold paced gains in metals.

Volume is expected to be thin in the last week of trading for a volatile year. Investors have powered past shocks from the Brexit vote to Donald Trump’s presidential win, propelling U.S. equities to record highs, while the dollar jumped to a multi-year peak and crude climbed to the highest in 17 months. U.S. consumer confidence rose in December, economists forecast before a release on Tuesday.

“December was quite a run for markets, and now everyone is waiting to see whether the Dow Jones touches the 20,000 level,” said Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank AG in Lucerne, Switzerland. “After such a run, everyone is a bit fearful whether we are the height of the market and we’ll see a correction or the rally will continue. We still need to see better earnings and the new President Trump doing the right thing in the first days of his term.”

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In addition to the U.K., financial markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong remained shut on Tuesday.

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