BUSINESS BRIEFS

U.S. stocks rocketed to their biggest gain in six months Tuesday following strong earnings from major financial and health care companies as well as encouraging reports on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 547 points.

The S&P 500 index jumped 59.13 points, or 2.1 percent, its largest gain since March 26, and finished at 2,809.92.

Stocks have bounced around over the past three days, and the S&P 500 is down 4.1 percent from its record high on Sept. 20.

The Dow gained 547.87 points, or 2.2 percent, to 25,798.42.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 214.75 points, or 2.9 percent, to 7,645.49 as technology companies reversed some of their outsize losses from the last few days.

The Russell 2000 index of smallercompany stocks had its biggest rally in almost two years as it surged 43.74 points, or 2.8 percent, to 1,596.84.

Record number of job openings posted in August

U.S. employers posted the most jobs in two decades in August, and hiring also reached a record high, fresh evidence that companies are desperate to staff up amid solid economic growth.

Job openings rose a slight 0.8 percent to 7.14 million, the highest on records dating back to December 2000, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That is also far more than the 6.2 million people who were unemployed that month.

The number of available jobs has swamped the number of unemployed for five straight months.

Hiring has been solid, which has pushed down the unemployment rate to a nearly five-decade low of 3.7 percent. Strong demand for workers when so few are without jobs may force more companies to raise pay in the coming months.

Goldman, Morgan Stanley deliver strong profit reports

The leading U.S. investment banks – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – each reported third quarter profits that beat analysts’ expectations Tuesday.

Goldman, the larger of the two banks, reported a profit of $2.52 billion in the quarter, or $6.28 per share. That’s up from $2.13 billion, or $5.02 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The result topped the estimate of $5.38 per share from Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley earned a profit of $2.11 billion, or $1.17 per share, which is up 19 percent from a year ago, when the bank earned $1.78 billion, or 93 cents per share.

The results beat analysts’ estimates of $1.01 per share, according to FactSet.