Boeing starts to claw back

Health care and technology companies powered stocks broadly higher on Wall Street on Wednesday, giving the market its third straight gain.

Boeing briefly dipped, but finished slightly higher, after the U.S. said it was joining other countries in grounding the company’s 737 Max 8 airplane following a fatal crash of an Ethiopian airliner over the weekend.

The S&P 500 has now clawed back all its losses from last week, when the benchmark index posted its worst week since December.

The market has rebounded this week even though the costly trade dispute between the U.S. and China has yet to be resolved and the outlook for corporate earnings growth has dimmed this year.

A batch of economic reports helped drive the latest rally, giving investors more reason to have an upbeat view of the economy. Oil prices rose after new government data showed lower-than expected stockpiles.

U.S. wholesale prices barely increased last month after falling for three straight months, a sign there is little inflation pressure in the economy. A report on orders to U.S. factories showed that business investment rose 0.8 percent after two months of declines, marking the biggest gain since a 1.5 percent July bump.

A burst of late-afternoon buying reversed a slide in Boeing shares, ending with a 0.5 percent gain. The stock slumped more than 11 percent the first two days of this week, but it’s still up 16.9 percent for the year.

Health care sector stocks notched the biggest gain Tuesday, led by Rite Aid’s 6.1 percent jump after it announced management changes and job cuts.