- US stocks closed higher on Tuesday as investors awaited developments on a fiscal stimulus deal and shrugged off the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google.
- Major indexes pared gains in the final minutes of trading after The Washington Post reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the White House to refrain from striking a stimulus deal before the election.
- Shares of Google climbed on Tuesday despite the antitrust lawsuit. Tech heavyweights like Facebook, Amazon, and Apple also finished the day higher.
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US stocks rose on Tuesday as investors weighed a series of strong earnings reports, developments on a fiscal stimulus deal, and an antitrust lawsuit leveled against Google.
Major indexes pared gains in the final minutes of trading after The Washington Post reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the White House to refrain from striking a stimulus deal before the election.
McConnell had signaled earlier in the day that the Senate would consider a bipartisan stimulus proposal approved by President Donald Trump.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Tuesday:
- S&P 500: 3,443.12, up 0.5%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 28,308.79, up 0.4% (113 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 11,516.49, up 0.3%
Shares of Google's parent, Alphabet, rose on Tuesday after the Justice Department and 11 attorneys general accused the search engine of monopolistic behaviors.
The DOJ said the company abused its leadership in online search — which could have relieved some investors who thought the department would target Google's advertising business.
"People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives," Google said in response to the lawsuit, adding that the lawsuit would "artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use."
Facebook, Apple, and Amazon also moved higher on Tuesday, signaling that investors are not worried about the outcome of government lawsuits against the tech giants.
A strong earnings report from Logitech indicated that work-from-home activity was still boosting demand for its computer-accessories business and online gaming. Procter & Gamble reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates, posting its best organic sales growth since 2005.
General Motors surged after it said it would invest $2 billion into a Tennessee manufacturing plant to build electric vehicles including the new Cadillac Lyriq.
AMC Entertainment slipped after it said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it could file for bankruptcy if it can't raise enough cash to keep its operations going.
Gold rose as much as 0.5%, to $1,914.15 per ounce.
Oil traded higher. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped as much as 2.1%, to $41.70 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 1.6%, to $43.30 per barrel, at intraday lows.