NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, pushing the S&P 500 index to a five-year high, buoyed by a rise in deal activity and an improvement in German investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.13% climbed 53.91 points, or 0.4%, to 14,035.67 and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.46% gained 11.15 points, or 0.7%, to 1,530.94. The Nasdaq Composite index COMP, -1.25% rose 21.56 points, or 0.7%, to 3,213.59.