Investing.com - U.S. stock prices finished largely higher after better-than-expected quarterly earnings continued to fuel hopes the U.S. economy may be on the road to more robust recovery.
Hopes U.S. President Barack Obama will announce progress to deal with fiscal matters edged up stocks as well.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.34%, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.17%.
Fourth-quarter earnings continue to suggest the U.S. economy may be on the road to greener pastures and gave investors reason to snap up equities positions on Tuesday.
Later Tuesday evening, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address, and investors were hopeful they would see progress on bipartisan efforts to tackle tax and spending reforms.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the government posted a surprise budget surplus in January.
In a report, the Department of the Treasury said that U.S. federal budget balance rose to a seasonally adjusted USD3.0 billion, from a USD300 million shortfall in December.
Economists were expecting a USD2 billion shortfall in January.
A weaker dollar made stocks more attractive as well.
Earlier, a G7 statement warned member nations not to use monetary policy to deliberately weaken currencies, leaving markets edgy over concerns that yen may be sliding too far.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso insisted on Tuesday that Japan would tell the G20 that it intends to maintain monetary and economic policies aimed at beating deflation and is not out to actively devalue its currency.
Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has taken steps to allow the yen to weaken against other currencies as part of a plan to prioritize economic growth over keeping the consumer price index in a tight target range but has not devalued the currency.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Bank of America, up 3.29%, Alcoa, up 1.80%, and Hewlett-Packard, up 1.60%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Coca-Cola, down 2.72%, Cisco Systems, down 1.41%, and Pfizer, down 0.52%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.00%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.99%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 0.35%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.98%.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to publish official data on retail sales, the government measure of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity. The U.S. is also to publish data on import prices, business inventories and crude oil stockpiles.
Hopes U.S. President Barack Obama will announce progress to deal with fiscal matters edged up stocks as well.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.34%, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.17%.
Fourth-quarter earnings continue to suggest the U.S. economy may be on the road to greener pastures and gave investors reason to snap up equities positions on Tuesday.
Later Tuesday evening, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address, and investors were hopeful they would see progress on bipartisan efforts to tackle tax and spending reforms.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the government posted a surprise budget surplus in January.
In a report, the Department of the Treasury said that U.S. federal budget balance rose to a seasonally adjusted USD3.0 billion, from a USD300 million shortfall in December.
Economists were expecting a USD2 billion shortfall in January.
A weaker dollar made stocks more attractive as well.
Earlier, a G7 statement warned member nations not to use monetary policy to deliberately weaken currencies, leaving markets edgy over concerns that yen may be sliding too far.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso insisted on Tuesday that Japan would tell the G20 that it intends to maintain monetary and economic policies aimed at beating deflation and is not out to actively devalue its currency.
Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has taken steps to allow the yen to weaken against other currencies as part of a plan to prioritize economic growth over keeping the consumer price index in a tight target range but has not devalued the currency.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Bank of America, up 3.29%, Alcoa, up 1.80%, and Hewlett-Packard, up 1.60%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Coca-Cola, down 2.72%, Cisco Systems, down 1.41%, and Pfizer, down 0.52%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.00%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.99%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 0.35%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.98%.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to publish official data on retail sales, the government measure of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity. The U.S. is also to publish data on import prices, business inventories and crude oil stockpiles.