Tuesday's early afternoon trade: Nasdaq hits record high; S&P closes in on record

Wall Street shrugged off a slide in oil prices on Tuesday to move higher in early afternoon trading, with the Nasdaq hitting a record high, boosted by healthcare stocks and strong economic data. The S&P energy index dropped 1.52 percent, leading the decliners among the 11 major S&P sectors. The healthcare index's 0.84 percent gain, led the eight advancers.
Boosting the health sector was UnitedHealth's near 4 percent rise to a record high after the largest US health insurer's upbeat forecast. Other insurers also gained. Other major gainers among health stocks were AbbVie, which was up 3.5 percent, and Clegene, which rose 2 percent. The Nasdaq Biotech index was up 0.56 percent. Also helping boost sentiment was data that showed the US economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter, notching its best performance in two years.
Gross domestic product increased at a 3.2 percent annual rate instead of the previously reported 2.9 percent pace, the Commerce Department said in its second GDP estimate. A Conference Board report showed its consumer sentiment index surged in November, climbing back to pre-recession levels. At 12:35 pm ET (1735 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 26.06 points, or 0.14 percent, at 19,123.96. The S&P 500 was up 5.21 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,206.93, about 7 points away from its record. The Nasdaq Composite was up 26.85 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,395.66. It had hit a record of 5403.86.