Nasdaq update:

On the month, the Nasdaq rose 4.8%, its best percentage gain since October 2003 when it shot up 8.2%. The S&P 500, meanwhile, climbed 3.2% in October. The broad gauge has also not put in a better October performance since 2003 when it rose 5.5%.
"It's been a very good month," said Joe Liro, equity strategist at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates. "First and foremost the decline in energy prices has taken a lot of pressure off in a number of areas. It makes the outlook of the economy more secure as it reduces the chances that we could slip into a recession while the Fed is also under less pressure to increase interest rates."

The Federal Reserve has left its key short-term interest rate unchanged at 5.25% since August after raising it seventeen times in a row in a bid to quell inflationary pressures in the economy, due in no small extent to higher energy prices.

Stock market gains, said Liro, have also been fueled by third-quarter earnings
reports that have "exceeded expectations once again."

"And finally, we've started to see a little bit more [new] money flowing into the market although nothing like the flows in previous bull markets," he said.
In Tuesday trading, investor sentiment was somewhat dented by a report showing an unexpected dip in consumer confidence as well as a manufacturing report that came in weaker than expected.

By sector, home builders, transportation stocks and pharmaceutical companies came under pressure.