U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday as strong earnings results and economic optimism pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 97.31 points to end the session at 34,230.34.
The S&P 500 eked higher 2.93 points to 4,167.59.
The NASDAQ Composite gave up earlier gains and finished behind Tuesday’s close by 51.08 points to 13,582.42, as Amazon, Netflix and Facebook all dipped more than 1%.
General Motors shares climbed over 4% after earnings blew past expectations. Activision Blizzard traded higher by 3% after strong results.
Commodity stocks jumped. Chevron and Dow were the two biggest gainers in the Dow Jones. ConocoPhillips popped more than 5% thanks in part to an upgrade to buy from Bank of America.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it supports waiving intellectual patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, as countries struggle to manufacture the life-saving doses.
Stocks of major pharmaceutical companies that have produced vaccines fell following the news. Moderna dropped more than 6%.
Exercise equipment maker Peloton dropped more than 14% after announcing a recall of its treadmill product due to safety concerns.
U.S. equities hit lows of the day following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comments that interest rates may have to rise somewhat to keep economy from overheating.
Later in the day, the former Fed Chairman tempered her comments somewhat, saying she respects the central bank’s independence and was not trying to influence decision-making there.
Private payrolls rose by 742,000 jobs in April, according to ADP. This result was below expectations of 800,000 jobs from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
ADP did revise its March report upward by 48,000 jobs. These numbers come ahead of Friday’s closely-watched jobs report.
The IHS Markit U.S. services purchasing managers index came in at 64.7 for April, ahead of the projected reading of 63.3, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index came in slightly under expectations at 62.7, however. PMIs are calculated such that readings above 50 represent expansion in an economic sector.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, weighing yields to 1.57% from Tuesday’s 1.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sagged 41 cents to $65.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $10.40 to $1,786.40 U.S. an ounce.
