Wall Street garners wide gains at the close

U.S. stock indices rose considerably on Tuesday, with banking and energy shares leading the charge after a surge in U.S. consumer confidence to a 16-year high, reviving risk appetite and raising demand on stocks. 

U.S. consumer confidence rebounded strongly as labor conditions improve, while the trade balance deficit shrank in February, underpinning stocks further. 

Energy shares drew support today from crude's advance to a one-week high after Libyan supplies were disrupted, nudging prices sharply higher. 

The dollar rose against a basket of currencies away from a five-month low following the strong consumer confidence data, but that didn't weigh much on shares of American exporters. 

Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.73%, or 16.98 points to 2,358.57, while Dow Jones advanced 0.73% as well, or 150.52 points to 20,701.50. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 0.60%, or 34.77 points to 5,875.14.