US stocks rallied on Tuesday as investors digested fresh commentary from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who cheered the "disinflationary path" of recent economic data.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) added more than 0.6% to close at 5,509, marking the index's first-ever close above 5,500. The tech-filled Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also notched a record close as it gained more than 0.8% to close at 18,028. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.4%.
The market came off its lows just after 10 a.m. ET, when fresh data on job openings showed the labor market remains resilient despite concerns over recent softer data.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday showed there were 8.14 million jobs open at the end of May, an unexpected increase from the 7.92 million job openings in April.
For his part, Powell said he is encouraged by cooler inflation but reinforced that the central bank will need to see more evidence before cutting interest rates. He noted the latest inflation readings from April and May "do suggest that we are getting back on a disinflationary path."
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