U.S. stocks posted solid gains Tuesday, as Wall Street cheered over a recovery in oil prices amid positive data in the holiday-shortened week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 192.71 points, or 1.10 percent, to 17,720.98. The S&P 500 increased 21.86 points, or 1.06 percent, to 2,078.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 66.95 points, or 1.33 percent, to 5,107.94.
Oil Prices bounced back Tuesday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude jumping over 2 percent, as traders expected U.S. crude stockpiles to decrease for another week. The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery moved up 1.06 U.S. dollars to settle at 37.87 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery added 1.17 dollars to close at 37.79 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Economic data came out positive. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a slightly higher year-on-year gain with a 5.2-percent annual increase in October versus a 4. 9-percent increase in September. Meanwhile, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index stands in at 96.5 in December, up from 92.6 in November and above market consensus of 93.5. Analysts also attributed some of Tuesday's gains to a so-called Santa Rally, which roughly spans the last five to seven days of December. Since 1928, the S&P 500 has posted an average gain of 1. 3 percent in the last five trading days of the year, rising 76 percent of the time.
Overseas stock markets increased broadly Tuesday. Chinese stocks ended higher after volatile trading, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.85 percent to close at 3,563.74 points. In Europe, British benchmark FTSE 100 Index rose 0.96 percent Tuesday, while German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange surged 1.94 percent.
The U.S. stock markets will be closed on Friday for New Year's Day. The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 4.91 percent to end at 16.08 Tuesday.
In other markets, the U.S. dollar gained against the euro as the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rate, while central banks in Japan and Europe were expected to unleash further stimulus. In late New York trading, the euro moved down to 1.0939 dollars from 1.0976 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 120. 38 Japanese yen, higher than 120.35 yen of the previous session. Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell slightly as the U.S. dollar showed strength. The most active gold contract for February delivery edged down 0.3 dollar, or 0.03 percent, to settle at 1,068.00 dollars per ounce.
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