U.S. equities closed higher on Wednesday as bank stocks led the charge.
The Dow Jones Industrials continued its climb Wednesday, leaping 143.95 points to 21,454.61, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. Caterpillar was the best-performing stock in the index, rising 2.4%.
The S&P 500 bounced higher 21.31 points to 2,440.69, with financials rising 1.5% to lead advancers. The index also notched its biggest one-day gain since late April.
The NASDAQ rocketed 87.79 points, or 1.4%, to 6,234.41
Banks spiked 1.4% as investors braced for the release of the Federal Reserve's stress test results.
Analysts expect several big banks to come out of the test with substantial increases in return to shareholders — potentially using cash reserves to pay out more than 100% of their profits. As a result, higher figures would also reflect banks' confidence in their own
financial health.
Financials entered Wednesday's session as the second-best-performing sector over the past month, rising 2.4% amid the prospects of higher interest rates.
Most of tech rebounded Wednesday with Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Netflix all trading higher. Shares of Amazon briefly dipped lower after President Donald Trump took a swipe at CEO Jeff Bezos on Twitter.
The tech sector has been the stalwart of the U.S. stock market, rising about 17% for the year. But the tech sector dropped 1.6% Tuesday.
Financials entered Wednesday's session as the second-best-performing sector over the past month, rising 2.4% amid the prospects of higher interest rates. Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs both climbed more than 1%.
In economic news, mortgage applications fell 6% last week, while pending home sales fell for the third straight month in May.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note tailed off, raising yields to 2.22% from Tuesday’s 2.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 54 cents to $44.78 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $3.50 to $1,250.40 U.S. an ounce.
