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The Dow Jones Industrial Average mounted a big comeback from its 2022 low as the Bank of England said it would buy bonds to stabilize its financial markets, a stunning reversal in the monetary tightening policies implemented this year by most central banks to stifle inflation.
The 30-stock index leaped 548.75 points, or 1.9%, to end Wednesday at 29,683.74
The S&P 500 advanced 71.75 points, or 2%, to 3,719.04, one day after the index broke below the June intraday low.
The NASDAQ Composite soared 222.13 points, or 2.1%, to 11,051.64.
The Dow and the S&P 500 snapped six-day losing streaks.
The rally was broad-based. One notable outlier was Apple which was down 1.3% after a Bloomberg report.
Home Depot was the best performer in the Dow, up more than 5%. Construction stocks could be a beneficiary of national disasters, like the hurricane that hit Florida on Wednesday.
Other top performers include Boeing, up 4.8%, and Disney, up 3.8%.
The Bank of England said it would temporarily purchase long-dated U.K. government bonds in an effort to stabilize its plunging currency. Sterling briefly popped on the news and was last trading 0.1% lower against the dollar at $1.0726.
Treasury prices popped, pushing yields down to 3.73% from Tuesday’s 3.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices gained $3.52 to $82.02 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $32.20 to $1,668.40 U.S. an ounce.
