Stocks rose on Tuesday, building on the strong performance from the previous session, on the back of broad market gains and solid economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back most of what it had gained on the day, finished up only 2.27 points to 27,995.60.
The S&P 500 hung onto 17.66 points worth of gains to 3,401.20.
The NASDAQ progressed 133.67 points, or 1.2%, to 11,190.32, continuing its climb out of the dungeon following the index’s worst week since March.
Microsoft jumped 1.6%. Amazon rose 1.7% along with Alphabet. Netflix gained 4.1% and Facebook closed higher by 2.4%. Tesla shares, meanwhile, popped 7.2% after surging more than 12% on Monday. Those sharp moves higher come after a sharp selloff in Big Tech last week, which pressured the broader market.
Other parts of the market participated in Tuesday’s move higher. The S&P 500 real estate prospered 1.4%, and utilities were up 0.7%. Materials, industrials and health care were also higher.
Sentiment was boosted on Monday by positive news on the vaccine front, with AstraZeneca resuming its phase three trial in the United Kingdom and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla saying over the weekend the company should be able to present key data from its trial to regulators by the end of October.
Optimism about the United States getting a better handle on the virus was a major reason that LPL Financial raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to a range of 3,450–3,500 on Monday, according to equity strategists. That target implies an upside of roughly 2% for the market over the rest of the year.
Stocks also got a boost after China reported its first retail sales increase for the year. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Chinese retail sales rose 0.5% in August.
In the U.S., the Empire State Manufacturing index came in at 17 for September, rebounding from a print of 3.7 in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the index to come in at 7.
Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve concluding its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 0.68% from Monday’s 0.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased $1.06 to $38.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $1.30 to $1,962.40 U.S. an ounce.