US STOCKS-Wall St climbs as rate-cut optimism lingers

Wall Street's main stock indexes rose on Tuesday, building on strong gains in recent weeks as investors continued to bet on a policy pivot by the Federal Reserve next year. The benchmark S&P 500 trades less than 1% shy of its all-time closing high as traders price in an aggressive timetable for interest rate cuts next year after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting last week that its historic monetary tightening is likely over.