Wall Street hits record closing highs; banks rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow registered record closing highs on Tuesday with a boost from bank stocks as investors eyed a potential cut in U.S. corporate taxes and continued economic growth after strong inflation data.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 119.39 points, or 0.49 percent, to 24,505.42, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.18 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,664.17 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 12.76 points, or 0.19 percent, to 6,862.32.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)