Nasdaq Powers Higher as Baidu Gains, Lam Gets a Lift

Tuesday was a good day for Wall Street, especially for the stocks within the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC). Many tech-related companies got positive moves from enthusiasm about the prospects for overall economic growth, while retail stocks benefited from favorable readings on the latest economic data on sales figures for the industry. Both the Composite and the Nasdaq 100 index finished higher by between 1.5% and 2%.

One company investors haven't heard much about lately is Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), but the Chinese internet search company got a push higher from interest in one of its major investment holdings. Meanwhile, in the semiconductor equipment sector, Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) continued to gain ground as demand for chips remains robust.

Shares of Baidu rose 5%, but most of the excitement wasn't about the company's core internet search business. Instead, the stock climbed because of its majority stake in streaming video company iQiyi (NASDAQ: IQ), which got some investment interest from another major player in the Chinese internet sector.

Source Fool.com