U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 2% on Tuesday.The Dow traded up 1.79% to 54,129.35 while the NASDAQ rose 2.22% to 26,490.24. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.64% to 7,725.48.Leading and Lagging SectorsInformation technology shares jumped by 3.8% on Tuesday.In trading on Tuesday, utilities stocks fell by 0.5%.Top HeadlineMcDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) posted upbeat earnings for the second quarter on Tuesday.The company posted adjusted earnings of $3.38 per share, beating market estimates of $3.32 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $7.099 billion versus expectations of $7.128 billion.Equities Trading UP Equities Trading DOWNCommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 5.3% to $76.09 while gold traded up 1.4% at $4,147.40.Silver traded up 3.9% to $60.085 on Tuesday, while copper rose 1.8% to $6.6585.Euro zoneEuropean shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.7%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3% London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.8%, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3%.Asia Pacific MarketsAsian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.32%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling 0.60%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 0.33% and India’s BSE Sensex falling 0.27%.Economics