NEW YORK, April 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday as Wall Street digested a slew of quarterly results and corporate news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 67.89 points, or 0.26 percent, to 26,452.66. The S&P 500 increased 1.48 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,907.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 24.21 points, or 0.30 percent, to 8,000.23.

Of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors, financials and energy rallied while real estate and health care underperformed.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson rose 1.1 percent at the close, contributing to the Dow. The company reported first-quarter results early Tuesday with its adjusted earnings of 2.10 U.S. dollars per share, above the 2.03 dollars per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

UnitedHealth Group also reported on Tuesday with both earnings and revenue beating estimates. Meanwhile, the U.S. health care company raised its earnings guidance for the full year. The stock surged as more as 3.5 percent in morning session, but closed at 4.01 percent lower.

Qualcomm shares surged more than 23 percent after reports said that the U.S. chipmaker has reached an agreement with tech giant Apple to dismiss all litigation between the two companies worldwide.

The corporate earnings season has kicked into full gear, with IBM and Netflix among others to report after Tuesday's close.

Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, most have topped analyst earnings expectations. Enditem