Wall Street Roars Back to Life in best Session in 9 Years

Wall Street stocks roared back to life on Wednesday, shaking off four straight routs following strong retail sales data and White House reassurances that Fed Chair Jay Powell won't be fired, reports AFP

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up nearly 1,100 points, or about five percent, at 22,878.45.

The broad-based S&P 500 also surged five percent to 2,467.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 5.8 percent to 6,554.36.

The US gains were the biggest for a single session on Wall Street in nine years, a surge analysts attributed in part to technical factors after days of selling.

"It's coming off of oversold conditions and it was frankly due for a bounce," said Matt Miskin, market strategist at John Hancock Investments.

"Sentiment can be fickle in times like these, so it's important to not get whipsawed."

Still, the session was not without its shaky moments. After opening solidly higher, the Dow briefly sank into the red in mid-morning before recovering and gathering steam throughout the day.

Earlier, Tokyo closed higher on Wednesday, logging its first positive finish in six sessions. Chinese stocks closed slightly lower, while Seoul also dropped.

Financial markets in Australia, Hong Kong were closed for a public holiday, along with bourses in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

 

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