The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 338.3 points, or 1%, to close Tuesday at 35,294.19
The S&P 500 gained 56.08 points, or 1.2%, to 4,631.60. The Dow and S&P 500 have advanced in four straight trading sessions.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 264.73 points, or 1.8%, to 14,619.64.
Auto stocks were some of the biggest gainers, with Ford rising 6.5% and GM gaining more than 4%. Travel stocks outperformed as well, with Caesar’s Entertainment surging 5.6% and American Airlines adding 5%.
In tech, Netflix climbed more than 3% and Snap jumped 4.5%. Shares of Moderna rose 4.4% after U.S. regulators approved an additional COVID booster for people aged 50 and over.
In corporate news, shares of FedEx rose more than 3% after the company announced that founder Fred Smith would step down as CEO on June 1 and be replaced internally.
Health care giant UnitedHealth Group announced a deal to buy LHC Group for $170 per share, sending the smaller company’s stock up 7%.
The conference board’s consumer confidence index came in at 107.2, below the 107.5 expected, according to Dow Jones. The U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed 11.3 million job openings, higher than the 11.1 million expected.
Growing hope for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire appeared to help investor sentiment on Tuesday morning. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Tuesday that the country will “drastically” reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the U.S. was focused on Russia’s actions more than its words.
Treasury prices strengthened, lowering yields to 2.39% from Monday’s 2.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 93 cents to $105.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faltered $20.60 to $1,924.10 U.S. an ounce.