WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks gave back some ground after an early surge but maintained a positive bias throughout the trading session on Tuesday. The major averages all moved to the upside after ending the previous session mixed.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 171.11 points or 0.7 percent to 26,151.80, the S&P 500 climbed 24.42 points or 0.3 percent to 7,677.28 and the Dow rose 160.24 points or 0.3 percent to 53,577.40.
The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to an extended nosedive by the price of crude oil, which has continued to give back ground after snapping a six-day winning streak on Monday.
After plunging by more than 2 percent during yesterday's trading, U.S. crude oil futures are plummeting by more than 3 percent.
The extended pullback in crude oil prices comes after the Treasury Department officially announced 'Operation Economic Outcast,' calling it an unprecedented, whole-of-government, economic campaign against Iran and its 'enablers.'
While the U.S. sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels that it said 'enable the Iranian regime's recklessness,' traders seem relieved the Treasury stopped short of immediate secondary sanctions against other countries sustaining Iran's trade.
Traders also seem optimistic that the Trump administration's shift toward economic measures to pressure Iran has reduced the likelihood of the resumption of a full-scale military offensive.
The steep drop in crude oil prices has also contributed to a continued decrease in treasury yields, which added to the positive sentiment on Wall Street.
However, traders may have been reluctant to make more significant bets ahead of key events in the coming days, including the release of key U.S. inflation data, Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly earnings and the Jackson Hole economic symposium.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing a modest decrease in consumer confidence in the month of August amid a deterioration in consumer expectations
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dipped to 89.4 in August from a downwardly revised 90.2 in July.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to edge down to 90.1 from the 90.8 originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Computer hardware stocks saw substantial strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 3 percent after moving sharply lower over the past several sessions.
Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Airline, brokerage and semiconductor stocks also saw notable strength, while oil producer stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Most European stocks also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index increased by 0.3 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index has bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher amid the extended nosedive by crude oil prices. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slumped 6.5 basis points to 4.639 percent.
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