US stocks continue to gain steam amid rally

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as technology companies traded higher for the second day in a row and consumer companies gained steam as cruise lines rose. The beleaguered financial sector recovered some of its losses from earlier this year.

Stocks started the day sharply higher, following a jump in European markets, although they returned some of those gains as the day wore on.

Oil prices followed the same pattern and finished four cents higher, at $38.32 a barrel, in NewYork.

Cruise lines rose after Carnival posted strong firstquarter results, and the dollar weakened further. Stocks are up about 7 percent this month, part of a rally that has canceled out their losses from a disastrous start to the year.

“The Fed really cured a lot of global ills” by deciding to go slower in raising interest rates, said John Cannally, chief economic strategist for LPL Financial. The Federal Reserve announced that decision two weeks ago, and Fed Chair Janet Yellen emphasized it again in a speech Tuesday.

The DowJones industrial average rose 83.55 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,716.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 8.94 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,063.95. The Nasdaq composite index added 22.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,869.29.

The market is now on pace for its best month since October, and the Dow and S&P 500 are higher for the year. In February they were each down10 percent.

“You really had a year’s worth of volatility in one quarter and we’re back where we started,” Cannally said.

Companies will start reporting their first-quarter earnings in two weeks, and Cannally said that may determine what the market does next.

Banks and insurance companies made the biggest gains. MetLife gained $2.27, or 5.3 percent, to $44.73 after the company successfully challenged its “too big to fail” designation.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council had said MetLife needed greater government oversight because of its size and importance to the financial system, but the company took the council to court over that ruling.

On Wednesday a judge ruled in its favor.

Fellow insurer AIG advanced $1.13, or 2.1 percent, to $54.52 and Prudential rose $1.43, or 2 percent, to $72.95. Banks also traded higher.