Nasdaq breaches 6,000 mark

NEW YORK:  The Nasdaq breached the 6,000 mark for the first time ever on Tuesday, spurred by a raft of strong corporate earnings and President Donald Trump's promise of a major tax reform plan.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much as 0.4 percent to hit a record level of 6,007.72 helped by gains in Biogen and Apple. The index first breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom.

Biogen´s shares jumped more than 4 percent after the biotech company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday. At 9:36 a.m. ET (1336 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 184.02 points, or 0.89 percent, at 20,947.91, the S&P 500 was up 9.71 points, or 0.41 percent, at 2,383.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 22.27 points, or 0.37 percent, at 6,006.09. Trump promised last week to make "a big tax reform and tax reduction" announcement on Wednesday.

The president has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.  Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with materials and financials in the lead.