All three indexes remained on track course for monthly, quarterly, and annual gains.

"This is one of the best end-of-year rallies we've ever seen and a lot of this rally happened before the Fed pivot in the middle of December," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha.

"It’s a nice reminder of how far we've come from the depths of the bear market last year and reminder to investors that dark clouds happen, but the sun always comes out again," Detrick added.

The S&P 500 continues to lurk a whisker below its record closing high of 4,796.56 reached on Jan. 3, 2022.

Hitting a new record close would have confirmed confirm the S&P 500 entered a bull market when it reached the bear market closing trough in October 2022.

"Reaching new highs after two years could be a subtle sign that economic strength could be in the cards for 2024," Detrick said.

Data released early in the day, including jobless claims, pending home sales and preliminary trade/inventories all painted a picture of a softening but resilient economy.

This scenario has helped cement bets the U.S. Federal Reserve might cut its policy rate sooner than expected and could pull off a soft landing by avoiding recession.

At last glance, financial markets have priced in a 74.1% probability policymakers will cut the Fed funds target rate by 25 basis points in March, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 2.30 points, or 0.05%, to end at 4,783.36 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.98 points, or 0.01%, to 15,098.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.96 points, or 0.16%, to 37,717.48.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies, including Alibaba Holdings, PDD Holdings and JD.Com Inc advanced as China's blue-chip stocks staged their biggest jump in five months.

CytoSorbents slid after the company's device aimed at reducing bleeding during surgery failed meet the main goal of a study.

Boeing fell after the planemaker urged airlines to inspect newer 737 MAX airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.