Stocks climbed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 Index settling above 5,500 for the first time, as remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell regarding inflation boosted market confidence. The broader market index rose 0.6% by session close, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 160 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%.

Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.62% or +33.92 points to 5,509.01

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.41% or +162.33 points to 39,331.85

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.84% or +149.46 points to 18,028.76

FedWatch:

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed positive sentiment over the central bank's progress on inflation over the past year on Tuesday, but still echoed remarks from other policymakers that more easing needs to be seen before the Fed can begin cutting interest rates.

"The last [inflation] reading and the one before it to a lesser extent, suggest that we are getting back on the disinflationary path," Powell said at an economic forum in Portugal. "We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2% before we start the process of reducing or loosening policy."

On the Economic Front:

The Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed vacancies rose by more than 200,000 month-over-month in May to 8.14 million, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, topping Dow Jones estimates for a reading of 7.9 million. May's ratio of openings to unemployed workers now stands at 1.2 to 1.

Meanwhile, hires rose by 141,000 to 5.76 million, separations increased by 85,000 to 5.42 million, and quits held nearly unchanged at 3.46 million.

In the News:

Tesla (TSLA  ) shares rose over 10% after the electric carmaker posted better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries on Tuesday. In the last three months, the company delivered 443,956 vehicles, rising 14.8% over the first quarter, and produced another 410,831 vehicles. However, deliveries were down 4.8% year-over-year.

Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY  ) and Novo Nordisk (NVO  ) dipped on Tuesday after President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders pressured the drugmakers to reduce the prices for their groundbreaking weight loss and diabetes treatments in an op-ed published by USA Today on Tuesday.

The drugs, marketed under the names Ozempic and Zepbound for obesity and Wegovy and Mounjaro for Type 2 diabetes, can cost patients more than $1,000 per month. Moreover, Medicare currently does not cover the cost of these treatments for weight loss.

"These drugs have the potential to be a game changer for people throughout the world struggling with Type 2 diabetes and obesity. But, as important as these drugs are, they will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them," the two Democrats said.

For Wednesday:

Market participants will parse through a slew of economic data including ADP's jobs report, S&P U.S. Services PMI and ISM services readings for June as well as more Fedspeak and the release of the central bank's June FOMC meeting on Wednesday.

The New York Stock Exchange will close early at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday and will remain closed until Thursday in observance of Independence Day in the United States.