U.S. stock indexes edged higher in morning trading Tuesday, as gains for some Big Tech stocks made up for weakness elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 14 points,

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Tuesday in a truncated trading session before Christmas, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq up for the third consecutive day, helped by gains in a handful of megacap and growth stocks.

Stocks shook off a choppy start to finish higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher after having been down 0.5% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also recovered from an early slide to eke out a 0.

Global markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, with Chinese markets logging gains of more than 1% after the Chinese finance minister promised a more pro-active approach to government spending in the coming year.

Wall Street's main indexes opened flat to slightly higher in Tuesday's shortened trading session, with U.S. stocks entering a historically strong period before rounding off their second consecutive year of gains.