NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 18,000 milestone level and the S&P 500 continuing to set new record highs, as the U.S. economy in the third quarter grew at its fastest pace in 11 years.
The blue-chip Dow and the broader S&P 500 hit all-time intraday highs of 18,069.22 points and 2,086.73 points before ending at record closing highs, respectively.
At the close, the blue-chip Dow increased 64.73 points, or 0.36 percent, to 18,024.17. The S&P 500 climbed 3.63 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,082.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 16.00 points, or 0.33 percent, to 4,765.42.
Stronger-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) from the United States for the third quarter fueled stocks to continue their recent rally.
Real GDP of the country increased at an annual rate of 5.0 percent in the third quarter of this year, up from the second quarter's growth rate of 4.6 percent, according to the final estimate released by the U.S. Commerce Department Tuesday. The latest figure came in well above analysts' expectations.
Moreover, U.S. consumer sector continued to improve, with personal income advancing 0.4 percent in November and personal spending growing 0.6 percent, said the Commerce Department.
Also, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final December reading on U.S. consumer sentiment came out at 93.6, its best level on a final basis since January 2007.
However, the Commerce Department said in a separate report that new orders for manufactured durable goods fell 0.7 percent in November, missing market estimates.
New home sales also unexpectedly went down 1.6 percent in November from the previous month to hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000, it reported.
Bucking the trend, the tech-rich Nasdaq dipped into negative territory, underperforming the other two major stock indices, as biotech shares took a hit amid valuation concerns over the momentum stocks.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 2.95 percent to end at 14.80 Tuesday.
In other markets, crude prices rose Tuesday. Light, sweet crude for February delivery moved up 1.86 U.S. dollars to settle at 57. 12 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery gained 1.58 dollars to close at 61.69 dollars a barrel.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies. In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2178 dollars from 1.2224 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 120.73 Japanese yen, higher than 120.01 yen in the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange went down, with the most active gold contract for February delivery decreasing 1.8 dollars, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 1,179.80 dollars per ounce.
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