NEW YORK: The S&P 500 hit a record high for the fourth straight session on Tuesday, helped by shares of heavyweight technology firms and banks, while an upbeat consumer confidence report set a positive tone for key jobs data at the end of the week.

Morgan Stanley jumped 4.1% after it doubled its dividend to 70 cents per share in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group also raised their payouts.

At 11:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 83.22 points, or 0.24%, at 34,366.49 and the S&P 500 was up 5.03 points, or 0.12%, at 4,295.64. The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.04 points, or 0.01%, at 14,498.47 after hitting an all-time high for the sixth consecutive session.

Moderna Inc jumped 5.43% to a record high after the drugmaker's Covid-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant first identified in India in a lab study, with a modest decrease in response compared to the original strain.

Facebook Inc dipped a day after crossing $1 trillion in market value and joining the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Amazon and Google-owner Alphabet that together now make up 10% of world equities.