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U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday after the European Central Bank tried to walk back remarks made by ECB President Mario Draghi a day earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from a near-100-point fall Tuesday, gaining 124.08 points at 21,434.74, with Goldman Sachs and Disney contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 regained 13.24 points to 2,432.63, with financials rising 1.4% to lead advancers.
The NASDAQ jumped 17.21 points to 6,163.83
A source familiar with Draghi's knowledge told Reuters that Draghi intended to signal tolerance for a period of weaker inflation, not an imminent policy tightening.
Draghi said Tuesday "the threat of deflation is gone and reflationary forces are at play," sending the euro to a one-year high against the dollar. The currency pulled back from those levels on Wednesday following Reuters' report.
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.
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 2.24% from Tuesday’s 2.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eased off three cents to $44.21 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $2.60 to $1,249.50 U.S. an ounce.
