Energy shares were the largest gainers in the S&P 500 at a 3-percent jump for that sector as U.S. investors also reacted positively to rallies in Chinese markets and the Federal Reserve started its two-day meeting, CNBC reports.
Investors also continued to mull earnings reports from blue chip stocks with GovCon Index companies Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH),  General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) scheduled to report quarterly results Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.09 percent to 17, 630.27, the S&P 500 composite index climbed 1.24Â percent to 2, 093.25Â and the NASDAQ composite index rose 0.98Â percent — or 49.43Â points — to 5, 089.21.
Top Percentage Gainers
Company | $ Current Price | $ Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Textron Inc | 42.87 | +2.34 | +5.77% |
Booz Allen Hamilton | 25.92 | +0.69 | +2.73% |
Honeywell International | 104.20 | +2.56 | +2.52% |
SAIC | 53.18 | +1.24 | +2.39% |
Huntington Ingalls Industries | 114.86 | +2.61 | +2.33% |
Market Summary
 Advancing Issues |   26 (86.66%) |
 Declining Issues |    4 (13.33%) |
 Unchanged Issues |    0 |
Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index is a composite index that tracks 30 of the largest publicly-traded Government Contracting (GovCon) firms.