Dow soars 800 points as stocks extend massive rally on fresh hopes for less hawkish central banks

• The Dow soared 800 points, and the Nasdaq jumped 3% Tuesday as stocks capped their best two-day rally since 2020.
• A drop in US job openings and a smaller-than-expected rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia helped fuel the bullishness.

US stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, extending early gains and capping the best two-day upward swing on Wall Street since 2020.

Traders increased bets on a dovish pivot from the Federal Reserve, fueled by a smaller-than-expected rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Employment data added to optimism that the tightening cycle may come to a close sooner than previously thought. Job openings in August plunged by 1.1 million in a possible sign that a slowing labor market will ease inflationary pressure.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 4:30 p.m. ET close on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 3,790.93, up 3.06%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 30,316.32, up 2.80% (825.43 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,176.41, up 3.34%

Here's what else is happening:

• Twitter stock surged as much as 23% after Bloomberg reported that Elon Musk would move forward with his deal to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion.
• The stock market has likely found its bottom this week and should stage a rally of up to 15% heading into year-end, Fundstrat's technical strategist Mark Newton told clients in a note.
• Both investors and the central bank are overlooking the likelihood of a soft landing, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics.
• Bridgewater's Ray Dalio has fully stepped away from the hedge fund he helped found, according to reports. And after repeatedly proclaiming "cash is trash" in recent years, he said he has warmed to the US dollar and now views it as a passable investment.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• Oil prices climbed ahead of the next monthly meeting of OPEC+ on Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 3.21% to $86.29 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.88% to $91.41.
• Gold ticked up 1.55% to $1,725.82.
• The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.6 basis points to about 3.617%.
• Bitcoin gained 0.17% to $20,094.91