US, Chinese Data Lift S&P 500 to Record High

The S&P 500 hit a record high on Tuesday after data showing US manufacturing accelerated even if at a slightly slower rate, and as China's factory sector expanded in June for the first time in six months.

The pace of growth in the US manufacturing sector slowed slightly in June but new orders accelerated to a six-month high, while Chinese manufacturing expanded last month for the first time since December. Other data showed Detroit automakers topped expectations for US June sales.

Manufacturing in Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, also gained pace in June, fueled by improving demand at home; but euro zone growth faltered as Germany, the region's top economy, slowed.

"We got kind of decent numbers in China and ISM manufacturing looked pretty good, in the range of what was expected," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

"The slowdown we experienced in the first quarter isn't continuing so investors are happy to buy today."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 106.19 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 16,932.79.

The S&P 500 gained 10.2 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 1,970.43.

The Nasdaq Composite added 44.27 points, or 1 per cent, to 4,452.45.

Twitter shares jumped 4.3 per cent to $42.73 as former managing director in Goldman Sachs' technology, media and telecom investment banking will become the company's new chief financial officer while current CFO Mike Gupta will become senior vice president of strategic investments.

Amicus Therapeutics shares rose 19.2 per cent to $3.98 after it said it was on track to report data from a late-stage trial of a genetic disorder drug, triggering speculation the data will be positive. The stock was upgraded by both Janney Montgomery Scott and Leerink Swann.

Other research notes also affected stocks. Urban Outfitters fell 2.3 per cent to $33.09 after a downgrade at Wedbush, and Netflix hit a record high of $465.47 after being upgraded at Goldman Sachs. It was up 5.4 per cent at $464.45.

Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2014