Reuters
- The Dow soared more than 200 points on Wednesday, reclaiming a big portion of losses suffered during the previous session.
- The S&P 500 also finished higher, fronted by a climb in the energy sector as oil prices leapt.
- Industrial production in August returned to pre-pandemic levels, said the Federal Reserve.
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US stocks closed higher Wednesday, with strength from the energy sector and economic data helping the market recover some ground lost during declines this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned higher and jumped more than 200 points, retracing most of Tuesday's loss of 292 points. Oil industry heavyweight Chevron was among Wednesday's winners as energy stocks climbed with a rally in oil prices.
The S&P 500's energy sector gained nearly 4%, outperforming the 10 other sectors tracked on the equity benchmark. Oil prices jumped, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 3.3% at $72.75 per barrel, extending gains after a larger-than-expected drawdown in weekly US oil stockpiles was reported Tuesday.
"Crude oil has been ripping higher on disrupted production leading to big declines in inventories," said Jay Hatfield, CEO and portfolio manager at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, in a note Wednesday. Oil production has been hampered by the recent Ida and Nicolas hurricanes.
Here's where US indexes stood at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,480.88, up 0.85%34,814.13
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,814.13, up 0.68% (236.56 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,161.53, up 0.82%
Investors also received a better reading than anticipated for manufacturing activity in the New York region from the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for August and the Federal Reserve said industrial production returned to pre-pandemic levels last month.
The Fed's two-day policy meeting starts on September 21 and will feature its summary of economic projections, or the so-called dot-plot chart of interest-rate expectations.
Around the markets, shares of Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands extended losses into a second session after Macau, China's gambling enclave, said it will conduct a regulatory review of the industry.
Coinbase has increased the size of its bond sale to $2 billion after receiving an influx of bids from private investors.
Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio said on CNBC he believes regulators will take control of bitcoin if there's mainstream success for the cryptocurrency.
Gold fell 0.7% to $1,791.08 per ounce. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.31%.
Bitcoin gained 1.9% to $47,949.73.