Stocks Soar On US Retail Sales, German Investor Confidence: Daily Markets Wrap

Stocks shot up Tuesday, propelled by a strong U.S. retail sales report and German investor confidence survey as well as a statement by the Federal Open Market Committee noting improvement in household and business spending as well as job creation.

Even though the central bank offered no signal it would print more money and qualified its observations of improvements, equities still rallied.

The Nasdaq Composite closed above 3,000 - the first time that's happened since 2000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its strongest finish since 2007 at 13,171.51 and the Nasdaq Composite ended at 3,038.19. The day's gains left the S&P 500 with an 11 percent increase since Jan. 1.

Stocks. All major European and the U.S. equity indexes closed more than 1 percent higher. The market was led by cyclical material companies, like Caterpillar, U.S. Steel Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.

Bonds. Yields on Treasurys soared to 2.12 percent, their highest level since October, from 2.08 percent before the Fed statement.

Currencies. The dollar rose 0.35 percent to 80.195 on the ICE US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six rivals. Both the euro and the yen fell against the dollar. So far this year, the yen has fallen 7.5 percent against the greenback.

Commodities. Crude oil rose modestly and copper climbed more than 1 percent before paring gains in light volume. Gold slipped, once again closing below $1,700. All agricultural commodities rose except for wheat, which tumbled 2.5 percent.