NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks hovered around all-time highs on Tuesday, with all the major indices notching up gains.

The U.S. dollar was sharply higher, with the euro taking the biggest hit against the greenback.

"The reaching of a debt ceiling agreement is positive news for all sectors at large, because it's one additional question that gets removed from the outlook for growth and equities in general," Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial in New York told the Reuters Thomson news agency Tuesday.

The Dow Jones closed 177.29 points or 0.65% higher Tuesday at 27,349.19.

The Standard and Poor's 500 gained 20.44 points or 0.68% to 3,005.47.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 47.27 points or 0.58% to 8,251.40.

The U.S. dollar continued flexing its muscles on Tuesday, driving the major currencies lower. The euro fell sharply to 1.1147 by the New York close. The British pound slipped to 1.2435 despite the uncertainty over the UK leadership being resolved.

The Japanese yen dipped to 108.25, while the Swiss franc eased to 0.9858.

The Canadian dollar declined to 1.3145. The Australian and New Zealand dollars buckled to 0.7002 and 0.6703 respectively.

In overseas equity markets the FTSE 100 in London jumped 0.56%. The German Dax was sharply higher, appreciating by 1.64%, while the Paris-based CAC 40 climbed 0.92%.

In Asian markets, in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 204.09 points or 0.95% to 21,620.88.

The Shanghai Composite rose 12.97 points or 0.45% to 2,899.94.

The Australian All Ordinaries added 31.30 points or 0.46% to 6,812.50.