Stocks Ended Higher, Posted Monthly and Quarterly Gains

U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, after strong economic data helped to offset concerns around rising COVID-19 cases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 217.08 points, or 0.85%, to 25,812.88. The S&P 500 gained 47.05 points, or 1.54%, to 3,100.29. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 184.61 points, or 1.87%, to 10,058.77. For the month, the Dow gained 1.7%, the S&P was up 1.8% and the Nasdaq gained 6%. For the second-quarter, the Dow rose 15.6%, the S&P jumped 18% and the Nasdaq soared 29.4%.

Oil futures ended lower on Tuesday as persistent concerns about the rising number of cases of COVID-19 offset upbeat data suggesting both China’s manufacturing and service sectors are recovering. West Texas Intermediate crude for August fell 43 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $39.27 a barrel and rose nearly 92% for the quarter. Brent oil for August delivery shed 56 cents, or 1.3%, to end at $41.15 a barrel, it was up nearly 81% for the quarter.

A closely watched measure of consumer confidence jumped more than expected in June over May as lockdowns eased earlier this month. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 98.1 in June, rebounding from May’s reading of 85.9 in the index’s largest jump since 2011.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday afternoon that any further fiscal relief to businesses would be “targeted to specific industries” most disrupted by the pandemic.

The Fed’s Powell stressed that the ‘overriding goal’ of the central bank’s facilities is to help get the roughly 25 million workers who lost jobs during the pandemic back to work.

China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers for June rose to 50.9 from 50.6 in May, while the services PMI rose to 54.4 from 53.6, suggesting the second-largest economy and biggest importer of oil is continuing to show signs of recovery from the virus that was first identified in Wuhan.