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LATE RALLY LIFTS NASDAQ TO CLOSING RECORD

The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rallied late on Tuesday to close at a record for the first time since July, while the S&P 500 .SPX saw more modest gains and the Dow Industrials .DJI closed in negative territory as economic data and earnings season picked up pace.

A strong auction of seven-year Treasury notes US7YT=RR helped bond yields pause their recent ascent, providing an extra lift to the Nasdaq. Each of the major indexes had seen choppy trading in the earlier stages of the session.

For the first in a series of reports on the labor market this week, U.S. job openings dropped to more than a 3-1/2 year low in September, but nearly all the decline in vacancies was in the South, suggesting that Hurricanes Helene and Milton had temporarily weighed on demand for labor.

Aside from economic data, corporate earnings were coming into sharper focus. Stanley Black & Decker SWK.N was the worst performing S&P 500 component, down nearly 9%, after the tool maker reported quarterly results that missed revenue expectations while tightening its full-year outlook.

Cadence Design CDNS.O surged 12.5% as the best performer on the benchmark S&P index after posting Q3 results and boosting the midpoint of its annual profit view.

However, only two of the 11 major S&P sectors advanced on the day, with communication services .SPLRCL and tech .SPLRCT each rising more than 1%. Utilities .SPLRCU was the weakest group, with a drop of over 2%.

Market breadth skewed negative, as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.78-to-1 ratio on the NYSE while on the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.17-to-1 ratio.

Below is your market snapshot:

(Chuck Mikolajczak)

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FOR TUESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

OIL PRICES ARE NOT A RECESSION SIGNAL - CLICK HERE

BOFA CLIENTS POST BIGGEST U.S. EQUITY OUTFLOWS IN 8 WEEKS - CLICK HERE

WHY SMALL CAPS ARE OUTPERFORMING - CLICK HERE

TUESDAY DATA: JOLTS OF CONFIDENCE - CLICK HERE

U.S. STOCKS FLAT AFTER DATA, AHEAD OF MEGACAP EARNINGS - CLICK HERE

BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD: CLIMBING INTO THE CLOUD - CLICK HERE

Q3 EARNINGS SEASON 'CRITICAL TEST' FOR BIG TECH - SAXO BANK - CLICK HERE

US ELECTIONS AND THE NEXT ECB RATE CUT LIVE MARKETS - CLICK HERE

STOXX INCHES UP, Q3 REPORTING STEAMS AHEAD - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: HSBC BEAT AND MORE EARNINGS - CLICK HERE

RISK SPOTLIGHT SWINGS TO EARNINGS AVALANCHE - CLICK HERE