NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks on Tuesday barreled higher to new records, opening the third quarter with big gains following strong US auto sales and Chinese manufacturing data.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 129.92 points (0.77 percent) to 16,956.52, while the S&P 500 shot up 12.97 (0.66 percent) to 1,973.20; both were new records. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index bolted 50.47 (1.14 percent) higher to 4,458.65.