U.S. Stocks Close On Bright Note On Fairly Widespread Buying

(RTTNews) - After a positive start, U.S. stocks largely kept moving higher on Tuesday, and the major averages all ended the day's session on a firm note. A drop in bond yields and optimism about a few interest-rate cuts this year contributed to the positive sentiment in the market.

Investors picked up stocks as worries about tariffs eased a bit as Donald Trump, who signed a slew of executive orders on Monday soon after being sworn in as the 47th President of United States, refrained from signaling trade barriers against China. He threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on Mexico and Canada but did not enact a policy.

The Dow closed up 537.98 points or 1.24 percent, at 44,025.81. The S&P 500 ended higher by 52.58 points or 0.88 percent, at 6,049.24, while the Nasdaq settled at 19,756.78, gaining 126.58 points or 0.64 percent.

Oracle surged nearly 7.5 percent, buoyed by reports that Trump will announce private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Charles Schwab climbed nearly 6 percent on strong earnings updates. 3M moved up sharply, buoyed by stronger than expected quarterly earnings.

General Motors, Moderna, Dollar General, Micron Technology, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Air, Delta Airlines, Caterpillar, Nike, Starbucks and United Airlines Holdings gained 3 to 5 percent.

Nvidia, Boeing, Amazon, Target, Eli Lilly, US Bancorp, American Express and Netflix were among the other notable gainers in the session.

Walgreens Boots Alliance tanked nearly 10 percent, weighed down by the Deapartment of Justice's lawsuit against the company. The company, which made a multibillion-dollar settlement over opioid prescriptions two years ago, now faces a suit that alleges it despensed "millions of unlawful prescriptions."

Apple Inc. shares declined sharply following a series of downgraes due to weak iPhone sales and somewhat disappointing performance in hardware and services segments.

Chevron, Merck, Lennar and Booking Holdings were some of the other notable losers.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended on a mixed note on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and said tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok's ownership.

European stocks closed higher today with investors digesting the executive orders signed by Trump soon after swearing-in for his second Presidential term.