Wall Street staged a rally on Tuesday, ignited by ongoing coronavirus vaccine optimism, the start of a hopefully smooth presidential transition between President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden, and positive 2021 outlook as sentiment turned bullish towards a quick vaccine roll out. That enhanced optimism pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 30,000 for the first time ever to a record close of 30,046.24.

Late Monday, the General Services Administration (GSA) chief Emily Murphy told Biden's transition team that the Trump administration will begin making federal resources available to begin a transition between the two administrations. However, Trump has signalled that he will not concede the presidency at this time, tweeting: "Remember, the GSA has been terrific, and Emily Murphy has done a great job, but the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be."

Meanwhile, The Conference Board's Consumer Sentiment Index declined more than expected in November, with the lastest reading falling to 96.1 from the 101.4 recorded in October. The index was at 132.6 in February, before the beginning of the pandemic.

"Heading into 2021, consumer do not foresee the economy, nor the labor market, going strength," said Lynn France, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. "In addition, the resurgence of COVID-19 is further increasing uncertainty and exacerbating concerns about the outlook."

Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +1.62% or +57.85 points to 3,635.44

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +1.54% or +454.97 points to 30,046.24

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.31% or +156.15 points to 12,036.79

For Stocks, Tesla (TSLA  ) surged to a record high as investors continued to pour into the stock ahead of its listing on the S&P 500. The electric carmaker's stock rose above $500 billion for the first time ever. Mega-cap tech stocks also rose alongside the broader market: Amazon (AMZN  ), Apple (AAPL  ), Facebook (FB  ), Google (GOOGL  ) and Microsoft (MFST  ). U.S. airline stocks also rose on ongoing vaccine momentum: American (AAL  ), Delta (DAL  ), Southwest (LUV  ) and United (UAL  ).

For Sector Performance, ten out of the 11 S&P sectors closed higher, with only Real Estate (XLRE  ) falling slightly into negative territory. Energy (XLE  ) continued to lead sectors, this time rising 5% and is now up 40% for the month following ongoing positive coronavirus vaccine sentiment. Financials (XLF  ) also rallied alongside the broader market, carried by gains made from Wells Fargo (WFC  ) and Citigroup (C  ). To round out the other top gainers, Materials (XLB  ) and Communication Services (XLC  ) rose over 2%, while Industrials (XLI  ), Information Technology (XLK  ), Consumer Discretionary (XLY  ) and Utilities (XLU  ) increased over 1%.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) fell on Tuesday as risk sentiment improved following the Trump administration beginning the transition to a Biden administration and as coronavirus vaccine optimism continued to brighten outlooks. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against other global currencies, was down 0.31% at 92.214. The index is still holding above the 92 level, which analysts think will lead to much greater declines if the index breaks below. Gold (GLD  ) slipped to a four-month low on Tuesday as vaccine sentiment continued to boost investor optimism. Spot gold fell 1.5% to $1,807.95 per ounce, while gold futures settled 1.8% lower at $1,804.60 per ounce. Crude oil futures rose to their highest levels since early March on extended vaccine optimism and presidential transition news. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) climbed 3.91% to $47.85 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) increased 4.3% higher at $44.91 per barrel.

For Wednesday, market participants will focus on a slew of new U.S. economic data, with new readings for initial unemployment claims, gross domestic product, consumer sentiment, personal income, consumer spending, and core inflation set to release. All economic news for the week was pushed ahead to Wednesday due to the U.S. market holiday on Thursday and the shortened trading period on Friday.