Wall Street closes with robust gains, boosted by healthcare and tech
|- Major indexes renew record highs on Tuesday.
- CBOE Volatility Index down more than 7% on the day.
- Health care and information technology sectors lead gains.
After starting the day on a positive note, major equity indexes in the U.S. continued to push higher on Tuesday to touch their fresh intra-day record highs before closing the day substantially higher.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street's fear gauge, dropped 7.5% on the day, pointing to an improved market sentiment. Risk-sensitive tech shares took advantage of the market mood and the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (SPLRCT) added a little more than 1% on the day. “Tech has been by far and away the leader, and that continues to be the case both domestically and internationally,” Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, told Reuters.
In the meantime, medical device producer Medtronic's shares rose more than 5% on the back of better-than-expected earnings figures, lifting the S&P 500 Health Care Sector (SPXHC) 0.9% higher.
With the Thanksgiving holiday looming the trading volume in Wall Street is expected to thin out in the second half of the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 159.98 points, or 0.68%, to 23,590.31, the S&P 500 rose 16.91 points, or 0.65%, to 2,599.05 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 71.54 points, or 1.05%, to 6,862.29.
Today's data from the US
- Chicago Fed National Activity Index points to a pickup in economic growth in October
- Philly Fed: Regional nonmanufacturing activity continued to expand
- US: Existing-home sales increased in October to their strongest pace since early Summer
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