The US shares escalated for two straight sessions on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 within obvious distance of its record following the statements from Russian President Vladimir Putin eased anxiety that turmoils in Ukraine could elevate.

Profits were wide, with nine out of 10 primary S&P 500 sector indexes were higher for the day. An S&P technology sector index, surged up 1.4%, topped the advance, emboldened by a rally in Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft shares leaped 4% to $39.55, the largest daily progress for the software company’s stock since November. Tuesday’s move pushed the stock close to $40 for the first time since July 2000. On Monday, a source familiar said the company might reveal an iPad version of the company’s Office software suite on March 27.

In a speech to the Russian parliament, Putin said Russia did not want Ukraine to be split further and he did not want to seize more of the nation following the approved plans to make Crimea part of Russia after a controversial referendum.

The two-day surge of 1.7% set the S&P 500’s best back-to-back performance since early February. But not all market partakers were certain the relief over Ukraine would keep boosting equities. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 88.97 points or 0.55%, to finish at 16,336.19. The S&P 500 profited 13.42 points or 0.72%, to close at 1,872.25. The Nasdaq Composite gained 53.364 points or 1.25%, to end at 4,333.313.

After the closing bell, Oracle Corp. shares tumbled 4.9% to $36.95 following its new software sales and Internet-based software subscriptions in its fiscal 3rd quarter increased 4% from last year. With the day’s gain, the S&P 500 is just 0.3% away from its all-time closing high touched earlier this month.

Investors were looking forward to the end of a two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee, which started at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The central bank is not anticipated to deviate from previously announced policy plans, but because the Fed’s stimulus has maintained a floor under equity prices, market participants will be conformed to any clues of a change.

In the recent economic data, the US Consumer Price Index ascended 0.1% in February, as awaited, while housing starts slid from last month. In company news, Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said it would spin off its equipment rental business for $2.5 billion and use portion of the proceeds to finance a stock-buyback program. Hertz Global’s shares dived 0.5%, at $27.08.

The stock of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. erased 3.1%, its largest fall since August 22, to finish at $38.50. New York’s attorney general prodded US stock exchanges and other venues to bound services that he said gave biased advantages to high-frequency traders and undermined certainty in the markets.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal said Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is gearing toward enlisting shares on Intercontinental Exchange Group’s (ICE) New York Stock Exchange.

GameStop Corp. shares dropped 3.4% to $38.39 and was the S&P 500’s worst performer after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would permit shoppers to trade in used video games for anything from groceries to gadgets. Volume was light for the second straight day, with around 5.33 billion shares listed on US exchanges, way below the 6.77 billion average so far this month, based on the BATS Global Markets data. 

Volume on Monday summed around 5.74 billion shares. Advancing stocks surpassed diminishing ones on the NYSE by 2,346 to 700. On the Nasdaq, advancers outmatched decliners by 1,986 to 620. 

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com

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