US stocks opened higher on Tuesday as markets looked to continue a record-setting run that has become the story on Wall Street during the first quarter of the year.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) edged higher by roughly 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way up, rising nearly 0.4%.
Wall Street took a break from its rally on Monday, with all three major indexes dipping slightly. But a bullish mood is prevailing, with the latest signal coming from Oppenheimer Asset Management strategist John Stoltzfus, who raised his 2024 S&P 500 price target to a Street-high 5,500.
On Tuesday, the focus turned to economic data. Durable goods orders rebounded during the month of February, rising 1.4% last month amid increases in transportation equipment and machinery orders, according to the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
A fresh reading on US consumer confidence is due later this morning.
All of the data this week serves as appetizers for the main event on Friday, when the government will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, otherwise known as PCE. That contains the Federal Reserve's preferred look at the pace of inflation, in the form of "core" PCE growth.
In company news, former President Donald Trump's social media company was set for its Wall Street debut after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT) rose more than 30% in early trading.