Tech firms lead broad stock rally

Technology companies led a broad rally in U.S. stocks Wednesday that gave the market its third consecutive gain and nudged the Nasdaq composite to an all-time high.

The major stock indexes jumped in the last half-hour of trading amid reports that a meeting between President Trump and a European Union trade delegation had yielded an agreement to work on averting a budding dispute between the two trading partners.

Healthcare and industrial stocks rose. High-dividend, traditionally saferplay stocks lagged behind the broader market. Home builders sank on government data showing sales of new U.S. homes fell in June.

Stocks held on to modest gains for most of the day as investors drew encouragement from quarterly corporate earnings results.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index notched its best day in more than a month, climbing 25.67 points, or 0.9%, to 2,846.07. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 172.16 points, or 0.7%, to 25,414.10. The Nasdaq jumped 91.47 points, or 1.2%, to 7,932.24. The Russell 2000 index rose 5.01 points, or 0.3%, to 1,685.20.

Investors have been focused this week on company earnings, which have mostly topped expectations. But they’re still wary of global trade tensions.

That’s why news that the United States and the EU are working to mend their frayed trade relationship injected a wave of hopeful buying into the market.

“We remind investors only that the devil remains in the details,” Terry Haines, macro research analyst at Evercore ISI, wrote in a research note.

The latest corporate report cards also had traders in a buying mood, with the tech sector accounting for most of the market’s gains. Corning shares leaped 11.3% to $33.21. Hospital operator HCA Healthcare jumped 9.2% to $118.13.

Coca-Cola rose 1.8% to $46.09 after it served quarterly earnings and revenue that topped forecasts.

General Motors slumped 4.6% to $37.65 after the automaker posted strong quarterly results but cut its outlook for the year, mostly because of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Tupperware dived 16.4% to $34.09 after the container-maker reported weakerthan-expected sales and lowered its annual forecasts.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 78 cents to $69.30 a barrel. Brent crude rose 49 cents to $73.93 a barrel. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $2.15 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to $2.12 a gallon. Natural gas rose 4 cents to $2.78 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.96% from 2.95%.