By Yasin Ebrahim 

Investing.com – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed near record highs Tuesday, underpinned by consumer discretionary stocks following a rally in retailers and data pointing to strength in the U.S. consumer. 

It rose by 0.39%, to 4,700.90. This was just 0.3% shy of the closing high of 4,701.70. Nasdaq gained 0.76%, or 55 points. It added 0.1773 to its total.

Home Depot After Home Depot reported higher-than-expected third quarter results, the stock rose by more than 5 percent.

Home Depot beat on both the top and bottom lines, with comparable U.S. store sales climbing 5.5% ahead of expectations for 0.9%. 

Walmart (NYSE: ) has raised its full year earnings guidance. The company also reported better than expected third-quarter results. However, its shares dropped 2%. 

Lowe’s (NYSE:) and Target Corporation (NYSE: ) both showed positive signs ahead of Wednesday’s quarterly results. 

Signs that the consumer continues to spend despite rising inflation were also supportive of sentiment on retail stocks. 

Commerce Department Tuesday reported that retail sales rose more than economists expected at 1.4%. The retail sales control group – which has a larger impact on U.S. GDP –   ahead of expectations for a 0.9% rise. 

“Despite soaring prices and deteriorating consumer sentiment, there is absolutely no evidence of consumers pulling back,” Jefferies said in a note.

The wider market also supports tech as chip stocks such as Qualcomm (NASDAQ 🙂 or Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(NASDAQ 🙂 have seen gains.

Qualcomm jumped more than 7% after winning a new deal to supply its Snapdragon chips to BMW for the automaker’s automated driving systems.

Energy was also a top sector on this day, as oil prices rose higher despite increasing concerns about European Covid-19 restrictions that could reduce oil demand. 

Although energy is at 54%, Wall Street analysts suggest it might be time for investors to profit from the sector. 

“While the energy sector could continue to perform well in 2022, we believe it is prudent to take profits…,” Wells Fargo said in a note on Monday. 

Tesla (NASDAQ:) rose more than 4% shrugging off reports JPMorgan had sued the electric automaker, seeking a $162 million payment for warrants that expired above their strike price following wild moves in the company’s stock price after founder Elon Musk’s tweet in 2018 threatening to take the EV company private.

Elsewhere in the EV sector, Lucid Group (NASDAQ:) confirmed its 2022 production guidance, and reported more than 17,000 reservations for its debut electric vehicle following 13,000 reservations in the prior quarter. The shares rose nearly 24%.

Other news: Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:) dropped more than 3 percent to compound its losses following Atlantic Equities’ downgrading of the stock from neutral to buy. They cited a shortage of catalysts that would help the stock over the next months.

Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) closed flat after announcing that it intends to file an emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 treatment pill to the Food and Drug Administration as soon as Tuesday.