Dow sets record high after construction spending

U.S. stocks increased on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging fresh all-time intraday and closing highs, as the country's construction spending for October came out encouraging.

The Dow hit an all-time high of 17,897.05 points in intraday trading before closing at 17,879.55 points, up 102.75 points, or 0. 58 percent.

The S&P 500 gained 13.11 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,066.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 28.46 points, or 0.60 percent, to 4,755.81.

Wall Street opened slightly higher following broad-based stock gains around the world on growing speculations that central banks overseas might increase stimulus to combat slowing growth.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite Index surged 3.1 percent Tuesday to its highest not seen since July 2011.

Adding more upward jolts to the market, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday that U.S. construction spending in October rose 1. 1 percent from the preceding month, beating market expectations of an increase of 0.6 percent.

Also in the spotlight was November auto vehicle sales from major U.S. automakers. General Motors early Tuesday reported best November sales in the U.S. market in seven years, as total sales jumped 6.5 percent year over year to 225,818 vehicles last month. General Motors shares jumped 0.97 percent to 33.26 dollars apiece.

However, Ford Motor said its U.S. sales in November dropped 1.8 percent from a year ago to 187,000 vehicles. But the decline was anticipated as Ford managed its inventory levels and increased vehicle availability for its new models, including Ford Mustang and F-150. Ford shares added 0.82 percent to 15.90 dollars per share.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, dipped 10.08 percent on Tuesday to finish at 12.85.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday to begin a new month in negative territory on selling pressure largely due to disappointing sales figures of the Thanksgiving holiday.

In other markets, the dollar rebounded against other major currencies on Tuesday as investors were awaiting the U.S. nonfarm payroll report due out later this week.

Analysts hoped the report would be optimistic and thus give a boost to market expectation that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates before mid-2015.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2379 dollars from 1.2477 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought 119. 24 Japanese yen, higher than 118.28 yen of the previous session.

Crude prices retreated amid worries that global supplies surpassed demand as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries did not cut its output last week.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 2.12 dollars to settle at 66.88 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 2 dollars to close at 70.54 dollars a barrel.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as the dollar gained and oil prices retreated.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 18.7 dollars, or 1.54 percent, to settle at 1,199.4 dollars per ounce.