US close: Markets rally after Europe stimulus and Apple's results

US markets rallied on Tuesday, with investors speculating that the European Central Bank (ECB) might boost economic stimulus, while Apple drove the benchmarks forward after strong results.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed 215.20 points up to 16,614.87, while the S&P 500 rose 1.95% to 1,941.20 points, above its 200-day moving average, and the Nasdaq closed up 2.40% to 4,419.48 points.

Meanwhile, sales of existing homes rose 2.4% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.17m, growing at the fastest pace in the last 12 months and hitting back from an unexpected drop in August.

The reading was largely in line with analysts’ expectations that had forecasted the sales rate to increase from 5.05m to 5.1m but, according to figures released by the National Association of Realtors, September’s pace of sales fell 1.7% year-on-year.

Apple rose 2.72% reporting a 13% rise in profit after the bell on Monday, boosted by strong demand for its new bigger-screen iPhones, as the California-based technology giant exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Morgan Stanley lifted its price target on Apple from $110 to $115, as analysts at the investment bank predicted that increasing iPhone demand and gross margin expansion will drive the share price up even further.

Travelers Cos and United Technologies rose 1.12% and 0.52% respectively after posting results, while McDonald’s shares slid 0.64% the fast-food giant saw its profit drop by 30% in the third quarter.

Coca-Cola fell 6.03% after the company’s revenue dropped and the soft-drinks producer warned it had lowered its long-term revenue target and announced it did not expect to meet its earnings view, while Harley Davidson rose 7.31% after posting better than expected profits.

Chipotle Mexican Grill shares dropped 6.96% after the firm warned sales growth might slow, despite reporting better than expected earnings late on Monday, while Yahoo edged forward ahead of its results, which are due after the bell on Tuesday.

The dollar rose slightly against the yen and more significantly against the euro and the pound.

West Texas intermediate crude rebounded after a couple of negative sessions, gaining about over half a percentage point and trading at just under $82.50 a barrel, while gold futures edged forward to $1,249.10.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose three basis points to 2.22%, while the yield on the 30-year US note edged forward by the same margin to 3.00 and the yield on the five-year Treasury note moved forward by two basis points to 1.42.

S&P 500 - Risers
Waters Corp. (WAT) $107.17 +9.87%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $62.66 +7.33%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $36.16 +6.45%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $76.79 +6.14%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $38.00 +5.79%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $82.38 +5.63%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $88.08 +5.43%
Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) $49.37 +5.38%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $34.60 +5.36%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $84.93 +5.32%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $608.05 -6.89%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.68 -6.03%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $163.20 -3.49%
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $172.46 -1.75%
Integrys Energy Group Inc. (TEG) $68.84 -0.88%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $42.56 -0.82%
Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE) $41.63 -0.67%
Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) $61.05 -0.67%
ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) $34.05 -0.64%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $91.01 -0.63%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.59 +3.20%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $115.05 +3.19%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $90.92 +2.69%
Visa Inc. (V) $213.31 +2.63%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $94.21 +2.57%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $23.51 +2.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $140.90 +2.40%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $87.53 +2.35%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $57.93 +2.30%
Boeing Co. (BA) $127.12 +2.26%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.68 -6.03%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $163.20 -3.49%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $91.01 -0.63%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $179.55 +9.17%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $82.38 +5.63%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $88.08 +5.43%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $46.77 +5.31%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $23.67 +5.25%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $64.64 +5.11%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $31.19 +5.05%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $88.63 +5.04%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $326.77 +4.93%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $144.08 +4.78%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $74.36 -0.46%