Upbeat Earnings News Contributes To Rally On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the recovery from the sell-off seen in recent weeks. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed higher for the fourth consecutive session but remain well off their mid-September highs.

Most of the major sectors showed notable moves to the upside on the day, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Semiconductor stocks posted particularly strong gains, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.6 percent. The index closed higher for the sixth consecutive session, climbing well off the eight-month closing low it set last Monday.

Texas Instruments (TXN) helped lead the semiconductor sector higher, jumping by 5.3 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in almost a month.

The strength in the airline sector came amid news that major carriers are raising base fares on many domestic flights despite falling fuel prices and concerns about Ebola.

Oil service stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with the price of crude oil. With crude for December delivery climbing $0.58 to $82.49 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 3.2 percent.

Computer hardware, natural gas, healthcare, and networking stocks also posted standout gains, while gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend.

The major averages all posted substantial gains on the day. The Dow surged up 215.14 points or 1.3 percent to 16,614.81, the Nasdaq soared 103.40 points or 2.4 percent to 4,419.48 and the S&P 500 jumped 37.27 points or 2 percent to 1,941.28.