WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but largely maintained a positive bias before closing mostly higher.
The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, adding to the gains posted in the previous session.
The Nasdaq advanced 162.22 points or 0.6 percent to 26,269.23, the S&P 500 climbed 28.81 points or 0.4 percent to 7,527.40 and the Dow rose 150.37 points or 0.3 percent to 52,658.64.
The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices fell by more than expected in the month of June.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.3 percent in June after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.6 percent in May.
Economists had expected producer prices to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.1 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 5.5 percent in June from a downwardly revised 6.0 percent in May.
Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to slow to 6.2 percent from the 6.5 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Following yesterday's weaker-than-expected consumer price inflation data, the report further eased concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
'Traders are rapidly retreating from rate-hike bets,' FHN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low. 'Fed funds futures see the odds of a hike this month now at 9% and have a hike fully priced in by December. Yesterday, it was September.'
Buying interest remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders kept an eye on the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran's power plants and bridges next week 'unless they get to the table and negotiate.'
Sector News
Brokerage stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index surging by 2.1 percent to a record closing high.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Software, banking and retail stocks also saw notable strength, while computer hardware, networking and semiconductor stocks showed substantial moves to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up by 1.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 4.0 basis points to 4.545 percent.
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