WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the three previous sessions. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed further off last week's multi-month lows.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 224.09 points or 0.6 percent at 35,629.33, the Nasdaq rose 71.54 points or 0.5 percent to 14,417.55 and the S&P 500 advanced 42.84 points or 0.9 percent to 4,589.38.
The continued strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL).
Shares of Alphabet spiked by 7.5 percent after the tech giant reported fourth quarter result that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which has led to speculation the stock could be headed for inclusion in the Dow.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also showed a strong move to the upside after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.
Meanwhile, shares of PayPal (PYPL) moved sharply lower after the payment service reported weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings and provided disappointing guidance.
Traders were also reacting to a report from payroll processor ADP unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in U.S. private sector employment in the month of January.
ADP said private sector employment plunged by 301,000 jobs in January after jumping by a downwardly revised 776,000 jobs in December.
The steep drop surprised economists, who had expected private sector employment to increase by 207,000 jobs compared to the spike of 807,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
'The labor market recovery took a step back at the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant, though likely temporary, impact to job growth,' said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Economists currently expect employment to rise by 150,000 jobs in January after climbing by 199,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.9 percent.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher following the upbeat earnings news from AMD, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging up by 2.5 percent.
Interest rate-sensitive real estate and utilities stocks also saw considerable strength, as the unexpected slump in private sector jobs eased concerns about the Federal Reserve aggressively raising rates.
Reflecting the strength in the sectors, the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average climbed 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Natural gas, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks also moved notably higher, while oil service stocks moved to the downside despite an uptick by the price of crude oil.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved higher on Wednesday, with several major markets still closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.7 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped by 1.2 percent.
European stocks also moved mostly higher on the day, although the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line. The French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries climbed firmly into positive territory after fluctuating early in the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.4 basis points to 1.766 percent.
Looking Ahead
Reaction to reports on weekly jobless claims, labor productivity and costs, service sector activity and factory orders may attract attention on Thursday, although traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report on Friday.
On the earnings front, Facebook parent Meta Platforms (FB), Metlife (MET), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Spotify (SPOT) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
Biogen (BIIB), Cigna (CI), Eli Lilly (LLY), Hershey Foods (HSY), Honeywell (HON), Merck (MRK), and Nokia (NOK) are also among the companies due to report their results before the start of trading on Thursday.
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