Steel Stocks Rally On Strong Outlooks From Nucor Corporation, United States Steel Corporation

The steel sector rallied Tuesday when two major producers separately told investors to expect significant improvements in third-quarter results.

United States Steel Corporation X said a stabilized market and operational improvements will yield results "significantly higher" than the Wall Street consensus. The company's shares gained as much as 12 percent.

The much larger Nucor Corporation NUE shares were up as much as four percent after the company boosted its third-quarter outlook, citing a lack of production outages and relatively strong manufacturing markets.

Other stocks gaining by several points or more on the news Tuesday included ArcelorMittal SA MT, AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS and Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD.

U.S. Steel, with a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, also said its Canada unit filed for bankruptcy protection and its results will be "deconsolidated" from U.S. Steel's financial statements.

U.S. Steel posted a 2013 loss of $1.67 billion, including about $900 million attributed to Canada operations.

U.S. Steel also said it will halt expansion plans in Gary, Indiana, and in Keewatin, Minnesota, resulting in third-quarter charges of about $250 million.

Nucor, with an $18.56 billion market cap, separately said it expects third-quarter earnings of $0.70 to $0.75. Wall Street expects earnings of $0.61 per share.