Stock Market Today: Indexes Eke Out Another Record Close As Traders Brace For New Economic Data

A trader works during the Fed rate announcement on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 20, 2019.

Reuters/Brendan McDermid

• Stock trades were mixed as investors watched for key economic data this week.
• The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq managed to push slightly higher for another record close.
• Stocks in South Korea plunged after martial law was declared in the country.

US stocks wavered and ended mixed on Tuesday as investors stepped back from a rally that delivered fresh record highs in the previous session.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq secured new closing records on Tuesday, edging slightly higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 76 points.

Investors are looking for fresh catalysts and are bracing for a wave of new economic data this week, which may help determine where interest rates are headed at this month's central bank meeting.

October's job openings report came in better than expected, with 7.74 million new positions added in the month. The rebound suggests that conditions are stabilizing at a healthy level, Capital Economics wrote.

The report precedes November's much-awaited payroll report scheduled for Friday. Improving labor data could free the Federal Reserve of pressure to cut rates aggressively, and the odds of a quarter-point rate cut in December slipped slightly to 72.1%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Fed speakers on Tuesday added to expectations that interest rates could keep falling in 2025

"Over the next year, it feels to me like rates will come down from where we are now," Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said.

Outside of the US, a declaration of martial law in South Korea sent the country's stocks plunging, though they have since rebounded. President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would lift the order shortly after parliament voted it down.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 6,049.88, up 0.05%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 44,705.53, down 0.17% (-76.47 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 19,480.91, up 0.40%

Here's what else happened today:

• The stock market's record-breaking run could spell bad news for investors in 2025, a research firm says.
• Use any market correction to load up on Magnificent Seven stocks, the "Dean of Valuation" said.
• 5 charts showing stock market valuations stretched to historical extremes.
• A strong jobs report this week will boost the "American exceptionalism" trade, BofA says.
• Why Musk's ties to Trump might not boost Tesla, according to longtime investor Ross Gerber.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.8% to $70.01 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped 2.56% to $73.67 a barrel.
• Gold inched up by 0.24% to $2,665 an ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield gained 3 basis points to 4.228%.
• Bitcoin slid 0.4% to $95,467.89.