Nasdaq hits fresh record as investors confirm love for tech

The Nasdaq Composite resumed its climb on Tuesday, hitting a fresh record after a brief hammering.  As large cap tech turned the corner so did the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which both recouped earlier losses.

The Dow rallied 55.53 points to close at 25,119.89. The S&P 500 rose 11.12 points to 2,809.55. The Nasdaq was up 49.40 points at 7,855.12.

Tech stars including a handful of FAANG stocks such as Facebook, Google and Amazon all hit fresh record highs on Tuesday. Amazon, despite some snafus with its widely publicized Prime Day in which users experienced some minor glitches on the site, indicated sales for the day were significantly higher that the year ago period. Independent firm Feedvisor, which tracks online selling, said sales were 89% higher than the year-ago period.

Netflix remained lower but off the worst levels of the session after the streaming giant's quarterly subscribers fell short of estimates. It added 5.15 million subscribers during the quarter, falling below forecasts and less than the 7.4 million added in the prior quarter. The stock recouped nearly half of its losses from Monday's extended session.

Investors did engage in some profit taking after Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth both exceeded analysts’ expectations on profit and revenue targets for the quarter. General Electric also declined; the beaten down industrial company is set to report results on Friday. Additionally, Goldman also announced David Solomon will become its new CEO, replacing Lloyd Blankfein, who is retiring later this year.

Along with earnings, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, reiterated that the U.S. economy is in good shape. "Incoming data show that, alongside the strong job market, the U.S. economy has grown at a solid pace so far this year" he said in a statement while indicating that interest rates will continue to rise at a gradual pace. Powell took Q&A from lawmkers throughout the morning and maintained the Fed's recent messaging on the economy and modest concerns over the threat of a trade war.  This is the first of the Fed head's two-day semiannual monetary policy report to Congress. Powell will return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

In other economic news, U.S. home builders are feeling good. Builder confidence held steady in July at a reading of 68 as tracked by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). “Consumer demand for single-family homes is holding strong this summer, buoyed by steady job growth, income gains and low unemployment in many parts of the country,” said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel in a statement.

Additionally, Industrial production data for June rose 0.6% in-line with expectations and rebounding from a drop 0.5% in May. More housing data will be released on Wednesday with Housing Starts for June. At 2 p.m. ET, the Beige Book, a snapshot of regional pockets of the U.S., will hit the tape.

In commodities, U.S. oil prices took a breather after falling more than 4% on Monday, currently sitting around the $68 per barrel level. Gold prices slid about 1% to the $1225 an ounce level, the lowest in a year. The shiny metal, an inflation hedge, dipped after Powell indicated inflation is rising at a modest clip.