U.S. stocks rose more than 1 percent Tuesday, following sharp gains in European equities, as Wall Street cheered upbeat economic data and quarterly earnings report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.12 points, or 1.22 percent, to 17,706.05. The S&P 500 gained 28.02 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,076.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 95.27 points, or 2.00 percent, to 4,861.06.
U.S. sales of new single-family houses in April 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000, well above market consensus of 523,000, said the U.S. Commerce Department Tuesday. This is 16.6 percent above the revised March rate of 531,000 and is 23.8 percent above the April 2015 estimate of 500,000.
In corporate news, before Tuesday's opening bell, Toll Brothers Inc. reported net income of 89.1 million U.S. dollars for the second-quarter of 2016 fiscal year, or 0.51 dollar per diluted share, compared to net income of 67.9 million dollars, or 0.37 dollar per diluted share a year ago. Shares of the U.S. luxury homebuilder soared 8.71 percent Tuesday following the release of the better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of Best Buy, however, plunged over 7 percent Tuesday after the electronics retailer lowered its second-quarter earnings guidance.
Meanwhile, investors are still awaiting more clues on whether the central bank will hike rates again next month. Analysts believed that the possibility of a June rate hike becomes higher after the release of the Federal Reserve's hawkish minutes from its April meeting.
Overseas, European equities ended sharply higher Tuesday. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange advanced by more than two percent and closed above 10,000 points, while the British benchmark FTSE 100 Index rose 1.35 percent.
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