FINANCIAL MARKETS
Energy companies led U.S. stocks to modest gains Wednesday as the market recouped some of its hefty losses from the day before.
Big retailers and health care companies also helped lift the market, which was coming off its worst day in almost three weeks.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.69 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,465.54. The Dow Jones industrial average added 54.33 points, or 0.3 percent, to 21,807.64. The Nasdaq composite gained 17.74 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,393.31. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 2 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,402.20.
The market veered higher from the start of regular trading Wednesday and held its course through much of the day. News that President Donald Trump has agreed to a plan to fund the government and increase the nation’s debt limit for three months helped lift the market.
Tuesday’s market jitters over the heated rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea appeared to ease somewhat on Wednesday, even as investors monitored Hurricane Irma. The mammoth storm, which made its first landfall in the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday, seemed almost certain to hit the United States by early next week.
A day after spiking more than 20 percent, the VIX, a measure of how much volatility investors expect in stocks, fell nearly 5 percent on Wednesday. And bond yields, which fell sharply a day earlier, rebounded modestly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.10 percent from 2.06 percent late Tuesday.
Rising oil prices helped boost energy stocks. Helmerich & Payne rose $2.58, or 5.9 percent, to $46.35. Marathon Oil added 44 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $11.73.
All told, benchmark U.S. crude gained 50 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $49.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 82 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $54.20 a barrel in London.
The fallout from Hurricane Harvey, which slammed the Gulf Coast of Texas last month, forced Newell Brands to cut its profit forecast, sending its shares lower Wednesday. The consumer products maker noted that almost all of its resin suppliers with facilities in Texas and Louisiana shut down after that storm hit. Newell’s shares gave up $1.69, or 3.5 percent, to $47.03.
United Continental slid 1.3 percent after the airline cut its third-quarter outlook, citing increased fuel costs due to Harvey. The stock fell 77 cents to $60.33.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline dipped 3 cents to $1.67 a gallon. Heating oil rose a penny to $1.76 a gallon. Natural added 3 cents to $3 per 1,000 cubic feet.