(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company news from the first paragraph.)
US equity indexes rose, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite set to clock the biggest quarterly gains since Q2 of 2020 amid semiconductor-led gains in technology.
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.3% to 26,154.1, and the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 7,490.7 after midday Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3% to 52,348.4, heading for the strongest first half in five years.
Technology was the standout gainer intraday, followed by industrials. Real estate, consumer staples, and healthcare led the decliners.
Of the top 20 stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, 17 were from the tech sector, according to data compiled by Finviz. Within those tech names, the majority were either semiconductors or semiconductor equipment and materials. The top gainer was Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), trading up 7.7%.
Bernstein adjusted the price target for SanDisk (SNDK) shares to $3,000 from $1,700 while maintaining its outperform rating. Shares of SanDisk were up 7.6%, one of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's top gainers.
In geopolitical news, US envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are in Doha to meet Qatari mediators, CNN reported Tuesday, citing Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. The US duo will not meet with Iranian officials, the report said.
The mediators are working as go-betweens for US-Iran talks, which won't include any high-level officials, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, according to an Associated Press report.
The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent slipped 1.1% to $73.12 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate fell 1.3% to $69.84 per barrel.
Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 3.6 basis points to 4.41%. The two-year rate climbed 2.2 basis points to 4.13%.
Gold futures edged up 0.1%% to $4,040.5, and silver futures jumped 2.7% to $59.77.
In economic news, US job openings rose to 7.594 million in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, above the 7.296 million openings expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey and up from the 7.585 million openings reported in April.
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 91.2 in June from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May, below the 94.4 expected in a Bloomberg-compiled poll.
The Institute for Supply Management's Chicago PMI fell to 56.7 in June from 62.7 in May, compared with the expected 55.1 reading in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.
In company news, Air Products and Chemicals (APD) said Tuesday it will not proceed with the Louisiana Clean Energy Project because the expected financial returns do not meet stringent return criteria. The company also said it's finalizing a marketing and distribution agreement with Yara International for renewable ammonia from a green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia. Shares of Air Products jumped more than 8%, the top gainer on the S&P 500.
Pacira Biosciences (PCRX) has agreed to sell its Iovera cold-therapy pain relief system to Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) for up to $140 million. Zimmer shares dropped 7.4%, the worst performer on the S&P 500.