Wall Street starts month with more gains

Wall Street kicked off September with another set of milestones Tuesday, as an afternoon rally carried the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to all-time highs.

The S&P 500 bounced back from a modest loss in the early going to finish 0.8 percent higher a day after the benchmark index wrapped up its fifth monthly gain in a row.

More strength in technology stocks and solid gains in retailers and other companies that rely on consumers offset declines in health care companies and elsethe where in the market. Treasury yields fell.

Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said stocks “have fast become a buy high, sell higher market, and for good reason.”

Sandven said investors are right to take a “glass half-full” view of the strengths underlying the market, which could continue to trend upward.

“This has largely been a technology-driven market, and as tech goes so will the broad index,” he said.

The S&P 500 gained 26.34 points to 3,526.65. The index set several new highs last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from an early, 139point skid, climbing 215.61 points, or 0.8 percent, to 28,645.66.

The Nasdaq composite rose 164.21 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,939.67. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks also bounced back from an sluggish start, adding 16.71 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,578.58.

Oil prices rose. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for October delivery rose 15 cents to $42.76 a barrel. Brent crude oil for November delivery rose 30 cents to $45.58 a barrel.

The stock market has continued its remarkable turnaround since plunging nearly 34 percent early this year as the pandemic knocked the economy into a recession.

The S&P 500 closed out August with a 7 percent gain, its best showing since April. It’s now up 9.2 percent this year, while the tech-driven rally has powered the Nasdaq to a gain of more than 33 percent.

Encouraging data as broad swaths of the economy have reopened have helped stoke investor optimism about a recovery.

The question is whether that’s going to be enough to keep the market moving higher when so much uncertainty remains about pandemic’s lasting impact on companies and consumers.

Whether the market can sustain its upward trajectory in September, traditionally the worst month for stocks, will depend on how several potentially market-moving variables play out the next few months. Will Congress reach a deal on another economic stimulus bill? Will coronavirus infections surge as students in states where schools are due to reopen go back to the classroom? How will the elections shake out?

Traders have been favoring technology stocks as the pandemic has dragged on.