Investing.com - Wall Street was higher on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 edged closer to the all-time high it reached in January.
The S&P 500 rose 8 points, or 0.29%, to 2,858.70 as of 9:35 AM ET (13:35 GMT). The all time high is 2,872.87.
The Dow increased 103 points, or 0.41%, to 25,605.58 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 34 points, or 0.44%, to 7,894.08.
Stock prices were driven higher by a better-than-expected earnings season, with almost 80% of the S&P 500 since Monday posting profits to the upside, according to FactSet. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), or Wall Street’s fear gauge, fell to its lowest level since early February.
Earnings season continues, with the biggest focus on Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Snap (NYSE:SNAP), which both report after the close. Disney was up 0.78%, while Snap slumped 1.69%.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) surged 1.29% after news that it plans to merge its food delivery units and raise funds, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) gained 0.36% and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose 1.16%.
Elsewhere, Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) fell 2.48% after the hotel chain reported weakness in revenue per available room, while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 0.35% and Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) was down 5.39%.
In Europe, stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 104 points, or 0.83%, while in France the CAC 40 increased 42 points, or 0.78%, and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 79 points, or 1.03%. Meanwhile, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 28 points, or 0.83%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched up 59 points, or 0.61%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.21% to $1,220.30 a troy ounce, while crude oil futures increased 0.38% to $69.27 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.26% to 94.94.