NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Tuesday, amid fading fears of another government shutdown and growing optimism on global trade.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 346.68 points, or 1.38 percent, to 25,399.79. The S&P 500 rallied 34.55 points, or 1.27 percent, to 2744.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 101.97 points, or 1.40 percent, to 7409.87.
Shares of U.S. equipment maker Caterpillar and U.S. aircraft maker Boeing, both sensitive to global trade, rose over 3 percent and over 1 percent respectively at midday, as market sentiments continued to be boosted by growing trade optimism. Shares of U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. rose nearly 3 percent.
A majority of blue ships in the Dow extended gains since market open on Tuesday, which helped erode losses of the Dow on Monday.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P sectors extended gains on Tuesday, with the financial sector up nearly 2 percent, leading the winners.
Democrats and Republicans reached a temporary deal of 1.38 billion U.S. dollars on border security funding on Monday night, which lifted investors' risk-on sentiments.
On the economic front, U.S. job openings increased to 7.3 million in December last year, compared with nearly 6.9 million in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its JOLTS report on Tuesday.
The report, tracking monthly change in job openings, hiring and quits, is an important indicator to gauge the strength of U.S. labor market. Enditem
