Tuesday’s Mid-Day Movers: 3 Stories Driving Markets

The U.S. equity markets hit the ground running on Tuesday. Fueled by broad optimism that an economic recovery is under way, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a new record high of 14,286.82.

At 12:40 p.m.: DJIA: +0.97%, S&P 500: +0.99%, NASDAQ: +1.28%.

Here are three stories moving markets on Tuesday afternoon:

1) The Dow Jones Industrial Average has never been higher. Used as a proxy for the economic health of the United States, the bluechip index is showing all the signs of renewed vigor despite lingering high unemployment — which still stands at uncomfortable 7.9 percent — and slow gross domestic product growth — which came in at a minimal rate of 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012. However, not all analysts are convinced that the rally will continue.

Shooting past the critical threshold set back in 2007, the Dow set a new record on Tuesday… (Read more.)