The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,332.18 on Tuesday with a gain of 512.40 points or 2.06%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,803.27 for a gain of 58.82 points or 2.14%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,527.12 for a gain of 194.10 points or 2.65%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 17.05 for a loss of 1.81 points or -9.60%.
Tuesday’s market movers
The major US market indexes closed with substantial gains on Tuesday. The Nasdaq reported a gain of 2.65% after tech companies regained ground following headlines that regulators are investigating Google (GOOGL, Financial)(GOOG, Financial), Facebook (FB, Financial), Apple (AAPL, Financial) and Amazon (AMZN, Financial). All four companies closed higher Tuesday after losses on Monday as investors shook off the initial reports and analysts pushed out any significant fines or changes for the companies to the longer term.
Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a speech Tuesday also helped to increase risk appetite. Powell acknowledged that the Fed would consider trade tensions in its assessment of the economy and subsequent monetary policy actions, which could warrant a rate decrease. Many investors believe the economy’s trajectory given new international trade terms could potentially sway the Fed’s policy stance toward more of an easing strategy, pushing rates lower, which would help support stock returns.
Factory orders was the only major report on the economic calendar Tuesday. Factory orders decreased by 0.8% in April following an increase of 1.3% in March. Factory orders excluding transportation increased by 0.3% in April following an increase of 0.3% in March.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,508.54 for a gain of 38.56 points or 2.62%. The S&P 600 closed at 918.89 for a gain of 24.37 points or 2.72%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index closed at 9,624.68 for a gain of 257.01 points or 2.74%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value Total Stock Market Index closed at 9,311.65 for a gain of 195.15 points or 2.14%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,868.82 for a gain of 45.88 points or 2.52%; the S&P 100 at 1,232.95 for a gain of 26.12 points or 2.16%; the Russell 3000 at 1,651.89 for a gain of 35.82 points or 2.22%; the Russell 1000 at 1,553.62 for a gain of 33.23 points or 2.19%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,800.48 for a gain of 622.67 points or 2.21%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 688.36 for a gain of 13.10 points or 1.94%.
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