US stock market makes biggest gain in 2 months

Associated Press

The U.S. stock market notched its biggest gain in two months Wednesday, bouncing back from losses a day earlier.

Banks and other financial companies led the rally as investors bet on interest rates climbing further. Banks can make more money on lending when rates move higher.

Technology companies were among the big gainers, recouping some of their recent losses. Energy stocks also rose as the price of crude oil closed higher for the fifth-straight day. Utilities and real-estate companies were the only laggards.

“Across the board, sector strength is very, very strong,” said Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics. “Whoever wanted to sell into the holiday weekend basically did it yesterday, and we probably have a positive bias going into the four-day weekend.”

Smaller companies fared better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks picked up 21.75 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,425.27.

Bond prices fell. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.22 percent from 2.21 percent late Tuesday.

The market rebounded from Tuesday’s technology-led sell-off. The major indexes moved higher as trading got underway Wednesday and carried the momentum the rest of the day.

Investors also bid up shares in companies that reported improved quarterly results.