NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The S&P 500 and the Dow hit fresh record highs on Monday (Dec 12), fuelled by energy shares, while the Nasdaq was lower, a day ahead of the US Fed's two-day meeting.
Oil prices rose as much as 6.5 per cent to an 18-month high after OPEC and some of its rivals reached their first deal since 2001 to jointly reduce output to try to tackle global oversupply and boost prices.
The S&P energy index was the top gainer with a 2.4 per cent rise. Oil majors Exxon and Chevron were up about 2.3 per cent and provided the biggest boost to the Dow.
President-elect Donald Trump's expected agenda of economic stimulus and reduced taxes and regulations has fuelled a market rally, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising 5.6 per cent since Nov 8 to Friday's close (Dec 9).
The Dow has closed at record highs 14 times since the election.
"This market has gone up without taking a breather and will enter a cautious trading day as it awaits the Fed," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
Investors are keeping a close watch on the US Federal Reserve's last meeting for the year, beginning Tuesday, with a statement from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to raise benchmark interest rates, with market participants looking for clues about the pace of future hikes.
At 9:41 am ET (10:41 pm Singapore time Monday) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 29.82 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 19,786.67, the S&P 500 was down 0.68 points, or 0.030095 per cent, at 2,258.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 23.66 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 5,420.84.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the industrials index's 0.64 percent fall leading the decliners.
Viacom fell 6.4 percent to $36.14 after Sumner Redstone's privately held National Amusements withdrew its merger proposal for CBS and Viacom, according to a source familiar with the situation. CBS was down 3.5 percent.
Lockheed Martin was down 4.2 per cent at US$248.75 after Donald Trump tweeted that the company's F-35 program and costs were "out of control". Other defence stocks, such as General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman , were down between 3.4-6.1 per cent.
Ophthotech slumped 84.3 per cent to US$6.06 after Novartis said a combination of its eye drug along with the company's did not produce better outcomes.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,550 to 1,133. On the Nasdaq, 1,495 issues fell and 916 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed 46 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 87 new highs and seven new lows.
