At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 556.79 points, or 2.1%, to 26,642.59. The S&P 500 index added 42.30 points, or 1.3%, to 3,197.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 97.73 points, or 0.9%, to 10,488.58.
The Wall Street commenced trading with firm footing today as traders reacted positively to more upbeat news regarding a potential coronavirus vaccine. The US biotech firm Moderna said the final stage of human trials for a Covid-19 vaccine would start at the end of the month, after a report said its first stage tests had been a success.
The news follows an announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech that two of four candidates for treatment had received "Fast Track" designation from US officials. Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) announced that two of the companies' four investigational vaccine candidates received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The companies said they expect to start the next phase of trials as soon as later this month and are anticipating enrolling up to 30,000 subjects. If the ongoing studies are successful and the vaccine receives regulatory approval, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 and potentially more than 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
Providing added support was optimism the US would add to its stimulus after reports said top Republicans were reconsidering their opposition to it, including on extending supplemental unemployment benefits. Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard called for sustained large-scale asset purchases by the U.S. central bank to help the economy rebound amid a thick fog of uncertainty brought on by COVID-19.
St. Louis Fed president James Bullard on Tuesday struck a more upbeat tone on the economic outlook, saying that the unemployment rate could drop sharply in the next six months, if we play our cards right and if many workers subject to temporary layoffs end up being recalled.
Investors also monitored fresh corporate earnings, efforts by some U.S. states to close down businesses again with coronavirus cases rising, and deteriorating U.S.-China relations.
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On the economic data front, the National Federation of Independent Business said its Small Business Optimism Index rose to 100.6 in June, a 6.2 point increase from May's reading.
The June consumer-price index rose 0.6%, while the core reading, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.2%.
On the currency front, the dollar fell on Tuesday as the euro rose on optimism about the possibility of a European Union stimulus package and as U.S. stocks gained. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the safehaven greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, was down 0.31% to 96.265.
Among Indian ADR, Dr Reddys Labs was up 3.15% to $53.01, Wipro climbed up 2.95% to $3.49, and INFOSYS rose 1.15% to $10.59, while Tata Motors dropped 0.99% to $7.02, HDFC Bank shed 1.53% to $46.30, ICICI Bank sank 1.17% to $9.32, WNS Holdings fell 0.2% to $55.14, and Vedanta erased 2.18% to $5.82.
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