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US stocks rise despite Ukraine worries

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US stocks have barrelled higher despite Russia’s move to absorb Crimea following a controversial weekend vote by the region to secede from Ukraine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 88.97 (0.55 per cent) on Tuesday to 16,336.19.

The broad-based S&P 500 shot up 13.42 (0.72 per cent) to 1,872.25 to bring it within striking-distance of a record. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 53.36 (1.25 per cent) to 4,333.31.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia, heightening tensions with Western Europe and the United States, which accused Moscow of an illegal land grab.

But Putin also said that Russia had no designs on a larger break-up of Ukraine

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said the latest Ukraine news has not been surprising.

“The market is not that nervous at this time,” Cardillo said.

Investors are looking ahead to Wednesday’s conclusion of a two-day policy meeting at the US Federal Reserve.

Cardillo said Tuesday’s big gains for stocks contrasted with the cautious, narrow trade that usually takes place the day before a Fed decision.

Dow component Microsoft jumped 3.9 per cent on a report that it will unveil a version of Microsoft Office for Apple’s iPad later this month. Apple rose 0.9 per cent.

General Motors advanced 1.6 per cent after chief executive Mary Barra appointed a new vehicle safety chief in response to a growing scandal over the company’s failure to react to an ignition switch defect linked to 12 deaths.

Hertz announced plans to spin off its equipment rental business and split into two publicly traded companies. The car-rental giant expects to garner $2.5 billion from the transaction, supporting a new $1 billion share repurchase program. Shares fell 0.5 per cent.

Video game retailer GameStop suffered from an announcement that Wal-Mart Stores plans a new trade-in program for video games. GameStop shares lost 3.4 per cent on concerns the program will cut into sales. Wal-Mart rose 0.1 per cent.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury slipped to 2.68 per cent from 2.70 per cent Monday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.63 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.