Wall Street notched more gains Tuesday, as major stock indexes rallied for the third day and Treasury yields fell again.

The S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent, with roughly 90 percent of stocks in the index notching gains. The benchmark index hadn’t been able to string together more than two gains in a row since mid-September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq closed 2.3 percent higher. Smaller company stocks outpaced the broader market, lifting the Russell 2000 index 2.7 percent higher.

The latest gains came as bond yields fell significantly, reflecting speculation among investors that the Federal Reserve may begin easing up on its aggressive pace of interest rate increases as soon as this year.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which impacts mortgage rates, slipped to 4.09 percent from 4.23 percent late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tracks Federal Reserve action, fell to 4.45 percent from 4.50 percent late Monday.

“It seems like the market is saying that they think perhaps longer-term yields have peaked, and that’s providing some optimism to the (stock) market,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab.

The S&P 500 rose 61.77 points to 3,859.11. The Dow added 337.12 points to close at 31,836.74. The Nasdaq gained 246.50 points at 11,199.12. The Russell 2000 picked up 47.76 points, closing at 1,796.16.

Technology stocks, retailers and communication companies were among the biggest drivers of Tuesday’s rally. Traders were sizing up a heavy round of earnings reports from big U.S. companies.

General Motors rose 3.6 percent after delivering solid results. United Parcel Service initially rose, but then slipped 0.3 percent after the package delivery service beat Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Paint maker Sherwin-Williams jumped 3.6 percent after also reporting solid financial results.

Packaging maker Crown Holdings fell 16.8 percent after its latest earnings fell short of estimates. Industrial conglomerate General Electric fell 0.5 percent after reporting weak third-quarter earnings.