Tech Stocks Rise, Materials Sector Rallies On China's Stimulus, Nvidia Surges: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?

Wall Street inched higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq 100 outperforming other major indices, while cyclical sectors linked to metals and industrial commodities saw strong gains, fueled by a surprise stimulus package from China’s central bank.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) unveiled a series of aggressive measures, including cuts to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks and a reduction in the seven-day repo rate, following a recent cut to the 14-day reverse repo rate. These moves are expected to inject roughly $140 billion (1 trillion yuan) into the banking system, providing banks with additional liquidity to boost lending.

Chinese equities skyrocketed on the news, with the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSE:FXI) soaring over 8%, marking its largest single-day gain since March 2022.

Commodities followed suit with copper and silver climbing more than 3% each, while gold rose 0.7%, hitting record ...