Wall Street kicks off February in style

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks scooted higher to get the month of February off and running Tuesday. Despite a faltering start, all the major indices went to record sizeable gains.

"The volatility of the stock market and bond yields is due to the lack of transparency and clarity from the Fed," Eric Vanraes, a portfolio manager at Eric Sturdza Investments, told Reuters Tuesday.

"They should be more aggressive short-term and less aggressive later," Vanraes said.

The Dow Jones industrial did best in percentage terms, rising 273.38 points or 0.78 percent to 35,404.24.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 106.12 points or 0.75 percent to 14,346.00.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 30.99 points or 0.69 percent to 4,546.54.

On foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar continued to correct lower. The euro firmed to 1.1271 by the New York close Tuesday. The British pound jumped to 1.3526. The Japanese yen was sharply higher at 114.67. The Swiss franc g gains to 0.7130. The New Zealand dollar was steady, but higher at 0.6646.ained to 0.9210.

The Canadian dollar edged up to 1.2683. The Australian dollar made significant

The Paris-based CAC 40 did best in Europe, adding 1.43 percent. The German Dax and the FTSE 100 in Lonon both gained 0.96 percent.

On Asian markets, The Australian All Ordinaries rallied44.54 points or 0.61 percent, to close Tuesday at 7,312.80.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, Japan gained 76.50 points or 0.28 percent to 27,078.48.

China's Shanghai Composite, going against the trend, declined 32.81 points or 0.97 percent to 3,361.44. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 252.18 points or 1.07 percent to 23,802.26..