WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure over the course of the previous session, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 258.32 points or 1 percent to 25,326.13, the S&P 500 advanced 58.47 points or 0.8 percent to 7,259.22 and the Dow climbed 356.35 points or 0.7 percent to 49,298.25.
The strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures plunging by more than 3 percent after spiking by more than 4 percent on Monday.
Crude oil prices gave back ground amid easing concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East, as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is 'not over' despite Iranian attacks against the United Arab Emirates.
'Ultimately the President is going to make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire,' Hegseth said. 'Right now, the ceasefire certainly holds but we're going to be watching very, very closely.'
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Iran's attacks fall 'below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point.'
Hegseth also said two U.S. commercial ships, along with American destroyers, have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, declaring the 'lane is clear.'
A positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news also contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with U.S. -listed shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) soaring by 8.7 percent.
The spike by the Budweiser parent came after the company reported first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of April.
The ISM said its services PMI slipped to 53.6 in April after falling to 54.0 in March, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 53.7.
Sector News
Computer hardware stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 4.4 percent to a record closing high.
Substantial strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index also ended the day at a new record closing high.
Intel (INTC) helped lead the sector higher, soaring by 13 percent after a report from Bloomberg said Apple (AAPL) has held exploratory discussions about using the company to produce the main processors for its devices in the U.S.
Airline, steel and housing stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower, with several major markets closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.8 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after moving sharply lower on Monday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 3.0 basis points to 4.416 percent.
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