The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite rose to fresh record highs on Wednesday, building on their rallies off the March lows, as tech shares led the way higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed red, but had climbed by noon to within 8.91 points of breakeven to 28,239.53.
The S&P 500 kept added 18.63 points to Tuesday’s all-time record at 3,462.25.
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 137.9 points from Tuesday’s all-time record close to 11,604.37.
Salesforce surged more than 25%, after the software company reported blowout earnings after the bell on Tuesday.
Salesforce will replace Exxon Mobil, Amgen will replace Pfizer and Honeywell International will replace Raytheon Technologies in the Dow average, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Monday. The changes are driven by Apple’s coming stock split, which will reduce the technology weighting in the price-weighted average.
HP Enterprise, homebuilder Toll Brothers and retailer Urban Outfitters jumped following their better-than-expected earnings. Shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft and Apple were all higher as well.
Sentiment on Wednesday was lifted in part by positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front and strong U.S. economic data.
Moderna said its coronavirus vaccine showed promising results in a small trial of patients ages 56 and older. The company’s stock jumped 6.5% on the news.
U.S. durable goods orders jumped by 11.2% in July, easily topping a 4.3% estimate. However, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George told the media the risk of a double-dip recession is increasing.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury wilted, raising yields to 0.71% from Tuesday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 10 cents to $43.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices vaulted $29.10 to $1,952.20 U.S. an ounce.