While buying interest was somewhat subdued, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session firmly in the red. The markets benefited from optimism about the possibility of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Many of the major sectors ended the day show relatively modest moves, although considerable strength was visible among steel stocks. The NYSE Arca Steel Index surged up by 2.1 percent to its best closing level in a month.
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Allegheny Technologies (ATI) and U.S. Steel (X) turned in some of the steel sector's best performances.
Natural gas stocks also moved sharply higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index up by 1.9 percent. The strength in the sector came as natural gas for October delivery rose $0.18 to $2.992 per million BTUs.
Oil service, computer hardware, and railroad stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, with oil service stocks moving higher along with the price of crude oil.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, although the Nasdaq inched up only 0.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,104.53. The Dow rose 69.07 points or 0.5 percent to 13,323.36 and the S&P 500 climbed 4.48 points or 0.3 percent to 1,433.56.
With the moderate gain on the day, the Dow once again ended the session at its best closing level in well over four years.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.