The Dow Jones Industrials gained 37.57 points to 34,890.24.
The S&P 500 index forged ahead 17.24 points to 4,514.87, aided by a 1% climb in chipmaker Nvidia. Shares of Apple climbed more than 1%, after the company sent out invites for a Sept. 12 launch event where the iPhone 15 is expected to be unveiled.
The NASDAQ index soared 75.55 points to 14,019.31.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard dipped 6.4% after reporting quarterly results which included a revenue miss. Shares of Insulet added 8.3% after chief executive James Hollingshead increased his personal stake in the company by 19.4%
Wednesday’s moves come as traders pore over disappointing payrolls data. ADP said private employers added 177,000 jobs in August.
That’s well below a revised July number of 371,000. It also missed a Dow Jones estimate of 200,000.
Meanwhile, annual gross domestic product growth was downwardly revised on Wednesday to 2.1% from the previous 2.4% forecast.
This is the second day investors appear to treat weaker-than-expected economic data as good news for stocks.
On Tuesday, the major U.S. stock benchmarks rallied following the release of disappointing consumer confidence figures and a bigger-than-forecast drop in U.S. job openings for July. This sparked hope among traders that the Federal Reserve could lighten its policy stance sometime soon.
Despite the gains, the three major indexes remain on pace for losses in August with just two trading days left. The Nasdaq Composite is poised to end August 2.8% lower, while the Dow and S&P 500 are both slated for drops of around 2%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to Tuesday’s 4.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved up 52 cents to $81.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $6.30 to $1,971.40 U.S. an ounce.