Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 6, 2013. U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting all-time closing high and intra-day high, as investors became more confident in the stock market. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)
NEW YORK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new all-time closing high and intra-day high, as investors became more confident in the stock market.
The blue-chip Dow climbed 125.95 points, or 0.89 percent, to close for the first time above 14,200, at 14,253.77. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index soared 14.59 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,539.79. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 42.10 points, or 1.32 percent, to 3,224.13.
After the surge, the S&P 500 was only 1.6 percent lower than its historical high set in October 2007.
The Dow broke through its all-time closing high of 14,164.53 and all-time intraday high of 14,198.10 within minutes of the opening bell, following rallies in European and Chinese stock market.
"The market pushing towards all-time highs is a bit head scratching indeed. The market was able to start stronger this morning coming off the heels of positive performance out of Europe and China," Gregory J. Keating, managing director of New York- based James E. Coffey Securities Inc, told Xinhua.
The major stock indices from Europe were boosted on Tuesday by better-than-expected retail sales in January for the euro area, up 1.2 percent, the biggest gain since December 2009.
China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 2.3 percent on Tuesday, a day after the benchmark index plunged 3.7 percent in the wake of strict measures taken over the weekend by Chinese government to curb rising property prices.
Wall Street also gained momentum from strong non-manufacturing sector activity in the United States. The Purchasing Managers' Index for services sector registered 56 in February, higher than the 55.2 posted in January, according to the Institute for Supply Management's Non-Manufacturing Business Survey.
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