Stocks Finish Volatile Trading Session Sharply Higher - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before ending the day firmly in positive territory. The higher close on the day came on the heels of the sell-off seen in the previous session.

The Dow jumped 567.02 points or 2.3 percent to 24,912.77, the Nasdaq surged up 148.36 points or 2.1 percent to 7,115.88 and the S&P 500 climbed 46.20 points or 1.7 percent to 2,695.14.

The volatility seen for most of the session came as traders seemed to question the near-term outlook for the markets.

While some traders were looking to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, others questioned whether the recent pullback would continue.

Railroad stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones Railroads Index up by 4.4 percent. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in two months.

Computer hardware, semiconductor, and chemical stocks also saw considerable strength, while notable weakness was visible among utilities and gold stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 4.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeted by 5.1 percent.

The major European markets also moved substantially lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries pulled back off their best levels of the day but still ended the day higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.6 basis points to 2.768 percent.

Amid a quiet day on the economic front, trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the latest batch of earnings news.