U.S. Markets Soar On Late Rally

New York, NY (AHN) - Thanks to a massive rally late in the session all three major indices finished with large gains, despite being hit with the worst consumer confidence reading on record.

Just like yesterday's late sell off, there really was not a specific catalyst for the late rally; just broad-based buying into the session close.

The Dow Jones Industrial average surged 889 points or 10.8 percent. The late rally sent all 30 Dow components higher. Alcoa was the largest gainer, up 19.2 percent while Johnson & Johnson was a laggard on a relative basis, up 6.7 percent on what was on overall strong day.

Boeing also provided strength to the Dow Industrials, up 15.4 percent after the company said it has reached a four year tentative labor agreement with its machinists union. The union has been on strike since early September.

The S&P 500 rose 91 points or 10.8 percent. All ten major economic sectors finished Tuesday higher by at least 7.5 percent. Consumer discretionary stocks were the strongest as the sector jumped 13.1 percent.

Tech rose as well with the Nasdaq Composite adding 143 points or 9.5 percent. Big-cap tech stock led the way with the Nasdaq 100 rising 10.9 percent on the session. Shares of Comcast led the way, up 24.5 percent after a Credit Suisse analyst made positive comments about the cable operator.

The energy sector rose 11.9 percent despite the declining price of crude oil. Positive quarterly earnings from Valero, Occidental Petroleum and BP helped boost the sector.

Crude oil fell 49 cents a barrel to settle at $62.73 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On the economic front, October Consumer Confidence came in at its worst level since they began to conduct the poll in 1967. Economists expected a reading of 52 while the actual result was 38 as consumers became more pessimistic after witnessing one of the worst market declines in history just a few weeks ago.

Also, home prices for August fell on average 16.6 percent from last year in 20 major metro areas.

All eyes will be on the Federal Open Market Committee's policy statement tomorrow afternoon as a decision on interest rates will be made.