MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks rose, with the S&P 500 closing at a new record high. Treasury yields were mixed, with the 10-year yield slipping to 4.168%. Gold futures settled at a new high. Oil futures rose on geopolitical tensions. The U.S. dollar weakened.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks rose, with the S&P 500 closing at a new record high, after third-quarter U.S. growth data showed the economy is powering along.

The S&P 500 ended the day 0.5% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.6%.

The GDP report released early Tuesday said the economy grew at a 4.3% annual pace in the three months through September, the fastest clip in two years.

That was faster than in the previous quarter, and considerably above the 3.2% rate that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected.

A pickup in consumer spending was the biggest growth driver, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. The report had been delayed by the government shutdown.

Markets in Asia were mixed earlier Tuesday.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1%, the Shenzhen Composite Index ended flat, and the ChiNext Price Index rose 0.4%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.1%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended flat.

Stocks in Australia gained, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index rose 1.1%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index finished flat.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures picked up from early losses and added to Monday's gains as the U.S. stepped up actions in the Caribbean to cut off Venezuela's oil trade and increase pressure on the country's strongman Nicolás Maduro.

"Geopolitical tensions remain the near-term driver for crude prices as traders await signs that global supplies are actually being interrupted, " said Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial.

Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela remained high, while Russia-Ukraine peace talks are going slowly, he added.

WTI settled up 0.6% at $58.38 a barrel, and Brent gained 0.5% to $62.38.

Gold futures settled at a new high, making it one of the many days in 2025 where gold charted another watermark.

"With the dollar weakening, interest rates ticking lower, and the U.S. President calling for regime change in Venezuela the bull camp has a plethora of bullish themes," said ADM Investor Services.

Front-month gold settled up 0.9% to $4,482.80 a troy ounce, and silver closed 3.8% higher to $70.485 a troy ounce, also a high.

Both gold and silver have risen over the past three trading sessions.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Consumers Power Strongest U.S. Economic Growth in Two Years

Robust spending by U.S. consumers drove greater-than-expected economic expansion in the third quarter, and the strongest growth rate in two years.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced across the economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted 4.3% annual rate from July through September, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The report was delayed nearly two months by the government shutdown, and looks back at the period before the shutdown was in effect. It does, however, offer a snapshot of an economy that has managed to keep humming along for much of the year.

Consumer Confidence Falls as Jobs, Economic Worries Persist

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. weakened for a fifth consecutive month in December, amid enduring concerns over jobs and business conditions, a monthly survey said.

Research group The Conference Board said Tuesday its consumer confidence index inched down to 89.1 from 92.9 in November. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a higher reading of 91.0. November's data was revised up as responses collected after the end of the federal-government shutdown were more positive than those collected during the impasse, the survey said.

"Despite an upward revision in November related to the end of the shutdown, consumer confidence fell again in December and remained well below this year's January peak," said Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board.

Durable-Goods Orders Swung to a Decline in October

Demand for U.S. durable goods fell in October, and the decrease was steeper than expected, according to delayed data published by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

Total orders for durable goods-which comprise goods meant to last three years or more-declined 2.2% in October, compared with a 0.7% climb in September and a 3% increase in August.

The consensus had called for total orders to be 1.2% lower.

J&J Ordered to Pay Over $1.5 Billion in Talc Lawsuit

A Baltimore city jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay over $1.5 billion in a lawsuit that alleged the company's talc-based personal products gave a Maryland woman cancer.

The verdict is the largest ever returned against Johnson & Johnson for a single plaintiff, according to lawyers of the Maryland woman, and is the latest in a string of legal judgments the company is facing over claims its talc products cause cancer.

Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal the verdict, which it called "egregious and patently unconstitutional."

ServiceNow to Acquire Cybersecurity Startup Armis for About $7.75 Billion

Artificial-intelligence software company ServiceNow agreed to acquire cybersecurity startup Armis for about $7.75 billion in cash in a move intended to take advantage of growing demand for AI security.

Armis recently raised $435 million in a funding round that valued the company at $6.1 billion, and it had been planning for an initial public offering at the end of 2026 or early 2027.

ServiceNow said on Tuesday that the acquisition would triple its market opportunity for security and risk solutions and entrench its position in the market for securing AI technology.