Wall Street Just Had Its Best Day Since July

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 450 points Wednesday as the stock market notched its best day in nearly two months. The S&P 500 rose 1.5%, its best day since July 6. The benchmark index and the Nasdaq composite each hit new highs, extending Wall Street’s milestone-setting run in recent weeks, the AP reports. Health care, technology, and communications companies drove the rally. The S&P 500 gained 54.19 points to 3,580.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 454.84 points, or 1.6%, to 29,100.50. The Nasdaq composite recovered from an early slide, adding 116.78 points, or 1%, to 12,056.44.

Investors appeared to shrug off a report showing that U.S. companies added only 428,000 jobs in August, far fewer than what economists had expected. The survey by payroll processor ADP comes ahead of the government's more comprehensive monthly hiring report due out Friday. Speculation that negotiators in Congress and the White House will reach an agreement on a coronavirus relief package and optimism that a COVID-19 vaccine will become available this year helped put traders in a buying mood Wednesday, says J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. "That, along with the fact that people continue to want to buy the stocks that have performed so well,” he says.

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