NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks scored strong gains for the second day in a row Wednesday as investors took a positive view of increasing oil prices and potentially higher US interest rates.
Energy shares were among the big winners as US oil prices closed at their highest price of the year, just shy of $50 a barrel. Banking shares were also strong on the prospect that the Federal Reserve could soon hike interest rates.
“The market is embracing the idea that if the Fed moves in June or July, the bull market can continue, so we have an economy that is growing at a modest pace,” said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,848.36, up 0.8 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,090.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 percent to 4,894.89.
