Tuesday's weak-volume session did little to influence the market's status, although the Nasdaq did edge to a fresh high and the Dow snugged nearer to the 20,000 mark.
The Nasdaq swung up nearly 0.5% for the day, notching a new closing high after briefly topping 5500 in morning trade. The S&P 500 clocked a 0.2% advance, while the Dow industrials added 0.1%. Small caps and tech issues were largely in sync, with the Russell 200 also finishing 0.5% higher.
Better-than-forecast October home price data and a gain of almost 2% in oil prices gave Tuesday's session a positive nudge across an array of industries, but energy and steel were leading beneficiaries.
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) beamed up 6% in above-average trade, crossing back above its 50-day moving average in the process.
Olympic Steel (ZEUS) popped more than 5%, although trading volume was weak. Coal miner Alliance Holdings (AHGP) surged 5%, CNX Coal Resources (CNXC) swung up more than 8%, rising further above its rising 50-day line.
CNX Coal was spun off by Consol Energy and debuted on July 1 at 15 a share.
Apple (AAPL) outpaced its Dow peers, rising 0.8% in soft action. Shares ended a shade more than 1% below a 118.42 cup base buy point.
On the downside, Nike (NKE) slipped 1.2%, still unable to gain any altitude above its 50-day moving average.
Rising oil prices lifted energy stocks to many of the S&P 500's best gains. But IBD 50 stock Nvidia (NVDA) topped the S&P 500 with a 6% gain in better-than double its average volume. The move put the chipmaker 98% above the stock's 200-day moving average, and violated an upper channel line in the stock's advance. Both are technical sell signals.
Among other IBD 50 stocks, LogMeIn (LOGM) popped 3% in light trade, rising to test the underside of its 50-day moving average. The stock is beginning the fifth week of a flattish consolidation.
Two of the S&P 500's top advances on Tuesday came from fertilizer makers. CF Industries (CF) climbed 4%. Mosaic (MOS) gained 3%. Both advances occurred in weak trade.
Watch for CF and Mosaic to potentially break out of bottoming base patterns following their long declines. CF has fallen more than 70% below a 70.32 high marked in July 2015.
No significant earnings releases are due out Wednesday, and the only major release on the economic calendar is pending home sales news for November from the National Association of Realtors.
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