The S&P 500 closed higher Tuesday as strong gains in tech and energy offset rising trade tensions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.44%. The S&P 500 rose 0.37%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.61%.
Leading the charge higher in tech, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares closed 2.5% higher as investors eagerly awaited the tech giant's big event slated for Wednesday, where a swathe of new products are expected to be revealed.
The highlight of the Apple event will be the trio of new smartphones the tech giant will launch, including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the lower-priced LCD iPhone, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note to clients.
Tech stocks have made a strong start to the week after suffering heavy losses last week, amid concerns over increased regulation on social media companies like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
Energy, meanwhile, also pushed the broader averages higher as oil prices rose, led by strong gains in gas prices as Hurricane Florence barrels toward the U.S. East Coast gasoline markets.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for October delivery rose 2.5% to settle at $69.25 a barrel.
President Donald Trump said he expects that Hurricane Florence will be one of the worst storms in decades and urged everybody to "get out" if they are in the path of the storm.
Still, gains in stocks were limited on investor worries over trade tensions, as China's pledge to retaliate against U.S. tariffs served as a reminder that the U.S-China trade war, which threatens global growth, is far from over.
China told the World Trade Organization (WTO) Tuesday it wanted to impose $7 billion a year in sanctions on the United States, citing Washington’s non-compliance with a ruling in a dispute over U.S. dumping duties, Reuters reported.
Boeing (NYSE:BA), viewed as a trade bellwether given its large international exposure, managed to sidestep trade tensions as the aircraft maker reported a rise in airplane deliveries in August compared with the previous month, owing to robust demand for its popular 737 model.
Investor appetite for risker assets like stocks, meanwhile, was helped by ongoing signs of U.S. labor market strength as job openings surged to the highest level since 2000.
The U.S. Labor Department's latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) report, a measure of labor demand, showed job openings in August improved to about 6.939 million, beating expectations of 6.646 million.
On the corporate news front, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gave up some of the gains from Monday as Nomura delivered its most bearish view yet on the automaker's stock, which it claimed was no longer "investable," citing CEO Elon Musk's "erratic" behavior.
In corporate earnings news, Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO), maker of high-end sound systems, struggled to escape a wave of selling pressure after it delivered a mixed fiscal third-quarter performance. Revenues arrrived in line with estimates, while losses were steeper than anticipated.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), United Rentals (NYSE:URI) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC), Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.
