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U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday morning as companies that benefit from the economic reopening gained along with big energy.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 398.44 points, or 1.2%, to begin trading Wednesday at 34,882.16
The S&P 500 index jumped 67.78 points, or 1.5%, to 4,634.78.
The NASDAQ vaulted 205.31 points, or 1.3%, to 15,743.
The gains follow a Tuesday selloff on Wall Street over fears about the new omicron COVID variant and the Federal Reserve mulling a quicker-than-planned exit from its easy monetary policy.
Energy shares posted sharp gains, with Occidental Petroleum and Baker Hughes each rising more than 3% as West Texas Intermediate prices climbed about 4% to nearly $69 a barrel.
Retail and apparel stocks were strong in early trading, with Gap and Ralph Lauren adding more than 3% and PVH gaining nearly 4%. Cruise stocks Carnival and Norwegian also rose about 3%.
Stocks wrapped up a volatile month of trading on Tuesday. The Dow lost 3.7% for its second month of losses in three. The S&P 500 fell 0.8%, while the NASDAQ gained 0.25% in November.
Still, the major averages are up solidly for the year. The Dow is up 12.7% and the S&P 500 is up 21.6% in 2021. The NASDAQ is up an impressive 20.6% this year.
ADP’s private payroll data for November showed 534,000 jobs added in November, above expectations of 506,000
Elsewhere, November’s IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index came in at 58.3, lower than expected. October construction spending also rose slower than expected, but there was a positive historical revision to help offset the miss.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys sagged, raising yields to 1.48% from Tuesday’s 1.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased $2.30 to $68.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $9.80 to $1,785.30 U.S. an ounce.
