US stocks moved higher early Wednesday as the positive momentum from Tuesday's record-setting trade carried over into a holiday-shortened session.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,069.53, up 45.36 points (0.25 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 added 2.47 (0.12 percent) at 2,084.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 15.05 (0.32 percent) to 4,780.47.
The Dow Tuesday crossed 18,000 for the first time on the heels of a better-than-expected report on US economic growth for the third quarter.
US stocks have been on a roll since the Federal Reserve last Wednesday kept interest rates low and said it would be "patient" before raising rates.
Many "are calling it a Santa Claus rally, although we think a 'Fed Feast' would work just as nicely," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.
"It's tough, though, not to default to the jolly image of St Nick for joyful descriptors this time of year, so we'll play along."
Biotech stocks, including Gilead Sciences (+2.8 percent) and Celgene (+3.5 percent) rallied after suffering deep declines Tuesday on fears of a price war for pharmaceuticals.
Keurig Green Mountain added 0.6 percent to recover some of its losses the prior day. On Tuesday, Keurig, which sells specialty coffee and brewing systems, said it was recalling 7.2 million coffee makers due to a burn hazard.
Petroleum drilling companies, such as Nabors Industries (-3.1 percent) and Transocean (-3.4 percent) suffered as US oil prices opened lower in New York. Oil companies ExxonMobil, a Dow component, and Marathon Oil, fell 1.1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.29 percent from 2.26 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.88 percent from 2.85 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
