U.S. stock-market benchmarks climbed Tuesday, with Wall Street joining a global equity rally, as investors focused on positive earnings results and away from persistent tariff clashes between Washington and Beijing.
How are the main benchmarks trading?The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.23% rose 9 points, or 0.3%, to 2,859, with energy, materials, financials and technology sectors leading the gains. The benchmark index was only 0.5% off its record close of 2,872.87 reached on January 26.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.14% gained 30 points, or 0.4%, to 7,890, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.41% advanced 111 points, or 0.4%, to 25,614.
Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index VIX, -1.86% known as Wall Street’s fear index, was hovering near its lowest levels of 2018 at 10.99. The gauge, which reflects bullish and bearish bets on the S&P 500 in the coming 30 days, tends to fall as stocks rise.
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What’s driving the market?Backed by modest gains on Wall Street a day earlier, Asian stocks got in rally mode on Tuesday, with a sharp rebound for the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +2.74% which climbed 2.7% after a 1.2% tumble to start the week.
Some significant technical levels were also in focus for market participants, after the S&P 500 on Monday closed 0.8% off its record finish of 2,872.87 reached January 26.
And traders were pushing aside trade worries, even as China shot off another verbal volley via one of its newspapers. A late Monday editorial in China’s People’s Daily saying the country won’t give in to “trade blackmail.” China threatened to place tariffs on $60 billion of American goods last week if the White House goes ahead with its plans to impose new levies on Chinese products.
Job openings for June are due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, while consumer credit for June is due at 3 p.m. Eastern.
What are market participants saying?“Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday, following a surge on Wall Street that sent the S&P 500 to a near all-time high and the Cboe’s Volatility Index to its lowest level since late January,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM in a Tuesday note.
“The strong earnings season has been the key factor lifting U.S. stocks,” he said. Sayed, estimated that 24.1% earnings growth and more than 79% of S&P 500 companies have managed to beat profit forecasts, in what he described as the best earning season in recent history.
“However, as we get closer to the end of company announcements, the focus will return to trade frictions, geopolitics and the forthcoming U.S. midterm elections,” he said.
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What stocks are in focus?Shares of Zillow Group Inc. Z, -17.40% ZG, -17.78% sank 18% after the company late Monday posted earnings and announced its acquisition of a mortgage lender.
Marriott International Inc. MAR, -3.05% shares dropped nearly 2.6%, after late-Monday results, while Etsy Inc. ETSY, +10.35% shot up 13% in premarket after its earnings.
Office Depot Inc. ODP, +9.52% reported profit and sales estimates that were better than expected, with its results helping to send shares up 10%.
Walt Disney Co. DIS, +0.88% Snap Inc. SNAP, -0.23% and Papa John’s International Inc. PZZA, -1.65% are scheduled to report after the close.
What are other markets doing?Crude-oil prices were on the rise, with the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures CLU8, +0.42% up 0.9%. The first sanctions against Iran came into force Tuesday.
Gold futures GCZ8, +0.16% rose 0.3%, whiles the U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.24% sagged 0.3%.
A global rally for stocks wasn’t lost on Europe SXXP, +0.60% where the Stoxx Europe 600 joined in with a gain of 0.6%.
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