Helping to support the fervor has been strong profit reports from Entergy and other big U.S. businesses. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver nearly 17% growth in their earnings per share for the final three months of 2024, compared with a year earlier. That would be the best growth since 2021, according to FactSet.

The S&P 500 flirts with a record as U.S. stock-market investors return from a three-day weekend, awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting and data due later this week.