S&P 500 surged forward by 0.4% Tuesday. What about Nasdaq?

 The U.S. stock market rallied on Tuesday, with tech shares leading gains as investors awaited earnings from some major companies.

The S&P 500 Index ended the last session higher. However, the stocks’ gains were limited after the top Senate Democrat statement. According to it, lawmakers declared that an aid package was unlikely before mid-March. Furthermore, a U.S. health official expressed concern about Covid-19 vaccination delays.

Despite that news dampening the optimistic sentiment, the S&P 500 is still coming off its best week since November. Consequently, traders are looking for new catalysts to boost the index higher or justify current valuations. There are a slate of earnings reports due this week, and they may be just that catalyst. The reports will shed light on how the major tech companies are faring and whether retailers, restaurants and travel companies are seeing any meaningful pickup in business.

Meanwhile, GameStop Corp. continues being extremely volatile. The stock more than doubled at first, but then pared most of the gains. The Nasdaq 100 composite soared amid gains for Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., and Tesla Inc.

What’s happening in the European stock market? 

In Europe, the session was more negative, with equity benchmarks in Spain, France, and the U.K. ending lower. According to the latest reports, France may go into another lockdown. The U.K. also contemplates tightening border controls, while Israel decided to bar foreign flights from entering the country. As a result, the Stoxx 600 Travel & Leisure index tumbled down 1.9%.

Overall, the S&P 500 Index surged forward by 0.4%, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index plummeted down by 0.8%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index soared by 1%, while the MSCI Emerging Market Index surged forward by 1.2%.

Stuart Kaiser, the head of derivatives research at UBS Group AG, stated that investors would get reports from 65% of market cap over the next two weeks. The stock market had rotated into value/cyclical stocks at the end of 2020 and early into this year. The analyst thinks that as earnings have started, they’ve been reminded why they preferred the leaders to begin with from last year.

Asia, stocks climbed up as well. Chinese internet firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. skyrocketed by 11%, marking the biggest gain since 2011, as mainland investors kindled a buying frenzy.

On Tuesday, crude oil surged toward $53 a barrel in New York, while the U.S. dollar gained. Sovereign bond yields tumbled down while Bitcoin rallied above $34,000 before paring the gains.