Investing.com – Wall Street traded up on Tuesday, following gains in European markets and celebrating better-than-expected housing data, as market participants continued to mull over the future path of monetary policy.
At 15:55GMT or 11:55AM ET, the Dow 30 gained 213 points, or 1.22%, while the S&P 500 rose 28 points, or 1.36%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite traded up 85 points, or 1.78%.
Even though no Federal Reserve (Fed) officials were scheduled to speak on Tuesday, markets continued to adjust expectations for when the U.S. central bank would restart the engine for monetary policy tightening.
Fed fund futures increased the odds of a rate hike in June on Tuesday to 36%, from the prior day’s 30% close. Though far from convincing, it marked a rather big shift when compared to the 4% probability before last week’s meeting minutes and a string of hawkish remarks from Fed officials that appeared bent on convincing the markets that the June meeting was “live”.
As indicated by the minutes themselves that any decision would depend on the data, the markets will be left eyeing economic reports and upcoming appearances, particularly by Fed chair Janet Yellen, up to the June 15 decision.
On Tuesday, U.S. new home sales soared, reaching levels not seen in more than eight years and bolstering optimism over the health of the housing market.
The positive data, along with the recent hawkish tone from Fed officials, continued to push the US Dollar Index higher, reaching a fresh two-month peak during the session.
Meanwhile, {{news- 404069||oil prices rebounded}} from losses suffered early in European trade, after U.S. traders reached their desks and buy orders began to pour in.
Investors looked ahead to weekly crude inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute to be released later on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures gained 1.08% to $48.60 by 15:56 GMT, or 11:56AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.52% to $48.60.
In company news, shares of Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL) jumped more than 6% after the luxury home builider beating consensus with its fiscal second quarter earnings.
Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) tumbled more than 7% after the electronics retailer produced a weaker than expected second quarter earnings forecast.
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) managed to gain more than 2% despite missing consensus as the autoparts retailer insisted that the results were affected by poor weather conditions.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Intuit will release numbers after the market close.