U.S. Stocks Open Higher On Strong Earnings; Nasdaq Tops 6,000

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with the Dow seeing a particularly strong gain as several key components reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, or 147 points, to 20,911. The S&P 500 climbed 5.7 points, or 0.2%, to 2,380. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 21.5 points to 6,006, an advance of 0.4%. The Nasdaq hit a new intraday record and topped 6,000 for the first time ever. Among the biggest companies to report results on Tuesday, McDonald's Corp climbed 3.2% while Caterpillar Inc. jumped 6.4%. Both topped forecasts in their results, while Caterpillar also raised its full-year outlook. The day's gains were broad, with 10 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors up on the day. The top performing sector of the day was materials, which rose 0.1%.