Wall Street extends record rally, Dow approaches 20,000

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks racked up new all-time highs on Tuesday and the Dow Jones industrial average was fewer than 100 points away from the 20,000 mark as a post-election rally showed no signs of fatigue.

All the three major indexes established record highs shortly after the open. The Dow has climbed almost 9 percent since the Nov. 8 election, with President-elect Donald Trump's expected agenda of economic stimulus and reduced taxes and regulations fuelling the rally.

Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the technology index's <.SPLRCT> 1.5-percent jump leading the advancers. The index had lost 0.5 percent on Monday after posting its largest weekly advance in a year last week.

"People are reaching for exposure and it's a big sector that can absorb a lot of flows. If you're bullish, tech does look attractive here," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Apple rose 2.17 percent and provided the biggest support to the S&P and Nasdaq, while IBM rose 1.68 percent, helping lift the Dow.

Other tech giants Microsoft and Amazon were up 1.64 and 2.31 percent, respectively.

Some investors see the 20,000-level on the Dow as a psychologically important signal of broad positive sentiment.

The U.S. stock market's sharp run has also been supported by positive economic data, including a strong labour market and S&P 500 companies' results, which in the third quarter were poised to snap a year-long earnings recession.

"The macro and fundamental background are favourable for stocks, and we expect equities to trend higher as we head into 2017," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

Investors are also keeping a close watch on the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting, starting Tuesday, with the central bank widely expected to lift interest rates for the only second time since the financial crisis.

A hike of 25 basis points is priced in, but investors will be examining the Fed's statement and economic forecasts for signs of the central bank's thinking about how Trump's election has affected the outlook for growth and inflation.

At 3:33 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.62 percent at 19,919.51 points and the S&P 500 had gained 0.75 percent to 2,273.96.

The Nasdaq Composite added 1.14 percent to 5,474.15.

Following recent gains, some investors are concerned about valuations. The S&P 500 is trading near 17.7 times forward 12-month earnings, above the 10-year median of 14.7 times, according to StarMine data.

"Valuations are elevated at the moment and we know that the pace that equities are advancing at won't be sustainable unless earnings continue to grow," said Sandven.

Inovalon Holdings fell as much as 37.7 percent to a life-low of $9.52 after the healthcare data analytics company's fourth-quarter revenue forecast came in below expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.35-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 179 new highs and 37 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch and Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Nick Zieminski)