U.S. Stocks Finish Up, Boosted By Fed Officials' Remarks

U.S. stocks closed higher, tacking on the majority of their gains in early-afternoon trading after two Federal Reserve officials spoke encouragingly about the efficacy of the Fed's bond buying program.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank should continue with its present bond-buying program and adjust the rate of purchases in view of incoming data on growth and inflation. New York Fed President William Dudley, vice chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee said there is a risk that financial markets could overreact to any move to pull back from easing and the Fed must think "long and hard" about how not to disrupt the economy.

In the absence of any major macroeconomic data, the Fed speeches garnered a great deal of trader attention Tuesday. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify to Congress while the Federal Open Market Committee will release its meeting minutes.

Jamie's Win
In company news of note, JPMorgan & Chase (JPM) share holders voted against splitting the company's CEO and Chairman roles and Jamie Dimon will continue in both positions.

Commodities finished mixed. June oil closed down $0.55 at $96.16 a Barrel. The June contract expired at NYMEX close, with July now the front-month contract June gold futures closed down 0.5% at $1,377.50 an ounce on the Comex.

Here's Where The Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrials up 54.58 (+0.36%) to 15,389.86
• S&P 500 up 2.87 (+0.17%) to 1,669.16
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 5.69 (+0.16%) to 3,502.12

• Nikkei 225 Index up 0.13%
• Hang Seng Index down 0.54%.
• Shanghai China Composite Index up 0.22%.
• FTSE 100 up 0.46%.
• DAX down 0.07%.
• CAC 40 down 0.43%.

• (+) SDBT, The company, which provides cloud-based, multi-channel services for businesses, will be acquired by Genesys (PRIVATE) for $100.4 million, or $5 per share.
• (+) AERL, Agreed to buy the VIP gaming room at Level 1 of Le Royal Arc Casino in downtown Macau for a consideration linked to rolling chip turnover. The shares are up more than 9%.
• (+) MDT, Jumps to new 52-week high of $53.83 after company reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.10, vs. the analyst consensus of $1.03 per share on Capital IQ. Revenue was $4.46 billion, vs. expectations of $4.38 billion. For FY 2014, the company expects EPS of $3.80 to $3.85 and revenue growth of 3% to 4% on a constant currency basis. The Street view is $4.01 per share for earnings.
• (+) MNRO, Reported Q4 earnings of $0.25 per share, in line with the Capital IQ consensus of $0.25. Revenues were $195.9 million, versus the analyst estimate of $190.43 million.

• (-) FSGI, Parent company filed a SEC form 8-K, with Change in Directors or Principal Officers, and Financial Statements. The company is undergoing a restructuring.
• (-) CIMT, Said some of its shareholders have priced an underwritten public offering for an aggregate of 2,183,303 of its ordinary shares at a price to the public of $6.25 per share.