U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday and the Dow breached the 30,000 level for the first time, as investors anticipated a 2021 economic recovery on coronavirus vaccine progress and the formal clearance for Joe Biden's transition to the White House.

Of the 11 major S&P sectors, 10 gained ground, led by economically sensitive stocks such as financials, materials and energy, while industrials hit a record.

President Donald Trump finally gave the green light for the formal transfer of power to begin on Monday, a process that was delayed for weeks despite Democrat Joe Biden emerging as the clear winner in the U.S. elections. The General Services Administration told Biden he could formally begin the handover process.

(Many media outlets called the presidential election for Biden, who would take office Jan. 20. Trump is challenging the election results, alleging widespread fraud, and has not conceded.)

Sentiment this week was also boosted by reports that Biden planned to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary, which could shift the focus heavily toward efforts to tackle growing economic inequality.

Recent data suggesting a COVID-19 vaccine could be available before the end of the year has put the S&P 500 on course for its best monthly performance since April and sparked demand for value-linked stocks that were hammered following the coronavirus-driven crash earlier this year.

"A little bit of decreasing uncertainty on the election front, the market seems pretty favorable on the Yellen announcement, it just seems like one of those good days where all things are moving a little higher," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.

"If 2020 has shown us anything it is that stock markets have a tremendous ability to look past bad news if there is sun on the horizon."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 454.97 points, or 1.54%, to 30,046.24, the S&P 500 gained 57.82 points, or 1.62%, to 3,635.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 156.15 points, or 1.31%, to 12,036.79.

The Dow rose as high as 30,116.51 during the session and the S&P 500 also closed at a record high. While the 30,000 mark represents a psychological milestone, it means little to professional investors.

U.S. officials said on Tuesday they plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide in an initial distribution after the first one is cleared by regulators for emergency use.

Electric-car maker Tesla Inc jumped 6.43% to boost its market value to over $500 billion, as investors lapped up its shares in the run-up to its addition to the S&P 500 index.

Boeing Co gained 3.29% after European regulators gave draft approval to its 737 MAX jets, paving the way for a formal flight clearance in January.

BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager, on Monday upgraded U.S. equities to "overweight," turning bullish on quality large-cap technology companies and small cap firms that tend to perform well during a cyclical upswing.

Still, with coronavirus cases surging by the day and millions of Americans still unemployed, some analysts suggested the U.S. stock market could be prone to a pullback and volatility from record levels in the next few months.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.16-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.09-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 56 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 197 new highs and 12 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 14.18 billion shares, compared with the 11.18 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Trump, in a brief statement to members of the White House Press Corps, touted the Dow Jones' record high numbers. "As the stock market has just broken 30,000, it's never been broken, that number," Trump said early Tuesday afternoon. "Nobody thought they'd ever see it. It's the 9th time since the beginning of 2020 and it is the 48th time that they have broken records during the Trump administration."

GLOBAL MARKETS

Global stocks hit record highs on Tuesday while bitcoin and oil prices also rose as political uncertainty subsided.

Japan's Nikkei closed at its highest since 1991, European stocks ended at their highest since February and Wall Street's Dow Industrials hit a record high above 30,000, with reports of Biden's nomination of former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen further enticing risk-taking investors.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.91% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 1.44%, on track to close at a record high.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.45%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.56% higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 2.50%.

Bitcoin rose over 5% with $20,000 in sight, with traders expecting volatility ahead due partly to Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in U.S. markets.

The cryptocurrency last rose 3.5% to $19,017.73 per coin. Gold fell for the fifth session in six.

"Trading conditions are likely to be volatile for the remainder of the week and crypto traders should expect $1,000 swings in the matter of minutes," said of bitcoin Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.

In other currency markets the dollar was under pressure from Yellen's expected push for fiscal stimulus.

The dollar index fell 0.374%, with the euro up 0.41% to $1.1889.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.08% versus the greenback at 104.45 per dollar, while Britain's pound was last trading at $1.3359, up 0.27% on the day.

An index of emerging market currencies was little changed on the day. It hit a 2-1/2-year high last week.

Also spurred on by vaccine hopes, oil reached levels not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic began to spread in March.

"The possibility of having a vaccine next year increases the odds that we're going to see demand return in the new year," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

U.S. crude rose 4.25% to $44.89 per barrel and Brent was at $47.89, up 3.97% on the day.

Spot gold dropped 1.6% to $1,806.56 an ounce. Silver fell 1.51% to $23.22.

Long-end Treasury yields extended their rise, further steepening the U.S. yield curve, as investors rushed to riskier investments.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 7/32 in price to yield 0.8816%, from 0.859% late on Monday.

The 30-year bond yield was last at 1.6065%, from 1.563% and the 2-year note was last yielding 0.1641%, from 0.169%.