Tuesday's Stock Market Close: US Equities Surge, Nasdaq Hits Record High, On Extended Rally

U.S. stocks soared on Tuesday, extending Monday’s rally, as Nasdaq reached an all-time high, led by automaker Tesla (TSLA) which has skyrocketed more than 33% in the past two trading days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 401.54 points to 28,801.35 while the S&P 500 gained 47.67 points to 3,296.59 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 190.66 points to 9,464.06.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 3.22 billion shares with 2,146 issues advancing, 235 setting new highs, and 811 declining, with 45 setting new lows.

Active movers were led by NIO Inc (NIO), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Tesla (TSLA)

China’s National Health Commission reported the number of coronavirus infections had surpassed 20,000, with at least 425 deaths.

Hong Kong reported its first death related to the virus.

Singapore’s health ministry confirmed six new coronavirus cases -- Singapore now has a total of 24 confirmed cases.

Factory orders in the U.S. rose 1.8% in December, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

“The fear last week was that the outbreak was happening at a time when the economic data was shaky at best,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. He cited that the data released this week, including manufacturing activity and factory orders, showed signs of stabilization.

“The lesson of today’s stock market rally is that while the coronavirus is a risk, it is not a material risk to the economic outlook which backstops corporate earnings always,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank. “Coronavirus doesn’t increase the odds of a U.S. recession this year.

Reuters reported that China’s central bank may cut its key lending rate and its banks’ reserve requirement ratios in the next few weeks to encourage economic growth.

Tesla (TSLA), which jumped almost 20% on Monday, surged yet another 13.7% on Tuesday.

Investor Ron Baron said Tuesday he thinks that Tesla could generate revenues of $1 trillion in 10 years.

Overnight in Asia, markets finished higher. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.34%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.21%, and Japan’s Nikkei-225 advanced 0.49%.

In Europe markets finished higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 rose 1.55%, France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.76% and Germany’s DAX gained 1.81%.

Crude oil futures retreated 0.76% at $49.73 per barrel and Brent crude edged up 0.2% at $54.07.

Gold futures slipped 1.57%.

The euro dipped 0.15% at $1.1045 while the pound sterling edged up 0.27% at $1.3033.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury surged 5.46% to 1.603% while yield on the 30-year Treasury soared 4.21% to 2.081%.