WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the recovery rally seen in the previous session, stocks showed another strong move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday but gave back ground over the course of the day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but managed to close in positive territory.
The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Monday, climbing further off Friday's three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq climbed 105.35 points or 0.5 percent to 22,479.53, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,716.09 and the Dow inched up 46.85 points or 0.1 percent to 46,993.26.
The early strength on Wall Street came as traders attempted to shrug off the recent volatility shown by the price of crude oil, which has been a key driver of trading in recent sessions.
Stocks extended the significant rebound seen in the previous session even as the price of crude oil recovered from yesterday's pullback.
Crude oil for April delivery has pulled back well off its highs but remains up by nearly 3 percent after plunging by more than 5 percent during Monday's trading.
The rebound by the price of crude oil comes after Iran launched a series of attacks on the United Arab Emirates, targeting Dubai's international airport and the Fujairah oil port, marking a sharp escalation in the ongoing conflict.
The Israeli military also said it had begun a 'wide-scale wave of strikes' across Iran's capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, several U.S. allies, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia and Japan have declined President Donald Trump's request to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for a fifth of global energy shipments.
Traders may have been reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's announcement of its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders are likely to pay close attention to central bank officials' latest projections.
Sector News
Oil service stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of crude oil, resulting in a 3 percent surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The strength in the sector came after several airlines raised their revenue guidance for the first quarter.
Computer hardware, oil producer and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while pharmaceutical stocks have shown a notable move to the downside.
Eli Lilly (LLY) helped lead the pharmaceutical sector lower, tumbling by 5.9 percent after HSBC Securities downgraded its rating on the drug maker's stock to Reduce from Hold.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.9 percent, while South Korea's Kospi jumped by 1.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the significant rebound seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.8 basis points to 4.202 percent.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
