After the U.S. market was closed in observance of President’s Day, bulls stampeded to a big win on Tuesday. The rally came on the heels of a 1% rally at the end of last week’s trading.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones jumped 1.7% to 10,268.81, the S&P 500 surged 1.8% to 1,094.87, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 1.4% to finish at 2,214.19.

Stocks were buoyed by higher commodity prices which were driven by a weak dollar and economic data that suggests demand for crude in the U.S. could be improving. By the close of trading, the price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for March delivery gained $2.88, or 4%, to settle at $77.01.

In macroeconomic news, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced early Tuesday morning that manufacturing within the region expanded at a much faster pace than anticipated. In February, the Empire Manufacturing index jumped to a reading of 24.9, higher than the 18 reading economists were looking for and well ahead of January’s 15.9 reading.

The New York Fed also revealed that the region’s employment index advanced from a reading of 4 last month to 5.6, while a measurement for a six-month outlook of new orders increased to 55.6 from 52 in January. The current reading marked the highest level since February 2006.

Sales in the N.Y. region also increased to a tally of 55.6, the highest since January 2006, while the gauge of current shipments slipped from 21.1 to 15.1. New factory orders declined from 20.5 to 8.8, and a gauge of prices paid decreased to 31.9 from 32, while prices received increased from 2.7 to 4.2.

The U.S. Department of Treasury revealed that the nation’s net long-term TIC flows in December slipped to $63.3B, down almost half from January’s total of $126.4B. Results came in better than expected, as economists were predicting that the TIC flow would slip even lower to a reading of $50.3B. TIC stands for Treasury International Capital and is an economic measurement that shows capital flows in and out of the U.S.

Economic data still due up this week includes the Philadelphia Fed report for February, Treasury Budget, Housing Starts, Industrial Production, Building Permits, Import/Export Prices, Capacity Utilization, Leading Indicators, PPI, and CPI reports for January. Weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories are due out as well.