Tuesday's early trade: Indexes supported by Apple, stimulus bets as Fed in focus

NEW YORK: US stock indexes rose on Tuesday as progress toward a massive government stimulus bill kept spirits high, while investors hoped for continued signals of easy monetary policy from the Federal Reserve's final meeting of the year. Apple Inc was the top boost to all three US benchmarks, rising 3.5% to a more than three-month high after a report said it plans to increase iPhone production by 30% in the first half of 2021.

Markets saw a recent spike in coronavirus infections and deaths as pushing the case for the quick passing of a Covid-19 stimulus bill, with economically sensitive sectors such as consumer discretionary, materials and utilities gaining the most. The S&P 500 materials sector was trading within spitting distance of a record high.

At 12:06 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 190.68 points, or 0.64%, at 30,052.23, the S&P 500 was up 25.63 points, or 0.70%, at 3,673.12. The Nasdaq Composite was up 72.32 points, or 0.58%, at 12,512.36. Technology stocks added 0.9%. The sector has outperformed its peers through the pandemic due to its perceived resilience to virus-related disruptions.