Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, after a strong batch of corporate first quarter earnings fuelled risk-on sentiment.
The Nasdaq closed above 6000 for the first ever, while the Dow closed just shy of 21,000, as some of the large-cap constituents of both indexes reported stronger than expected first quarter earnings.
Caterpillar , McDonald’s, 3M and DuPont reported earnings before the opening U.S. bell that exceeded expectations.
Caterpillar’s quarterly earnings report was the pick of the bunch, as the bellwether industrial company, posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.28 and sales of $9.822, which was far above analysts’ expectations.
Meanwhile, investors welcomed the release of top tier U.S. economic data, as new U.S. home sales rose to an eighth-month high in March while consumer confidence fell in April.
New U.S. home sales surged to an eight month high in March, which added to the narrative of a strengthening U.S. economy.
The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 120.3 in April, compared to expectations of a fall to 122.5 for the month.
The rally on Wall Street came a day ahead of a much anticipated update from the Trump administration on tax reform.
President Donald Trump said Friday, he will unveil a tax plan on "Wednesday or shortly thereafter" that includes a “massive tax cut” for individuals and businesses.
In other corporate earnings news, Chipotle reported results that beat expectations while AT&T posted Q1 earnings, in line with analysts’ estimates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.12% higher at 20,996. The S&P 500 gained 0.61% and the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6025, up 0.7%.
The ‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers included; Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) up 7.9%, and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) up 5.6%, while E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) added 3.6%.
Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) down 0.7%, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) down 0.4% and General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) down 0.3%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.