NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, pushing the S&P to its highest level since mid-May as investors cheered encouraging economic data and new steps by the Bank of Japan to stimulate its economy.
* Materials shares led the way higher as commodity prices rose and gold reached yet another record high.
* The Dow Jones industrial average gained 185.50 points, or 1.73 percent, to 10,936.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 23.07 points, or 2.03 percent, to 1,160.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 53.81 points, or 2.30 percent, to 2,398.33. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)