U.S. Stocks Close Higher Following Late-Day Volatility

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly lower over the two previous sessions, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged, particularly in the latter part of the session.

The major averages eventually ended the day in positive territory. The Dow advanced 284.97 points or 0.7 percent to 41,113.79, the S&P 500 climbed 24.37 points or 0.4 percent to 5,631.28 and the Nasdaq rose 48.50 points or 0.3 percent to 17,738.16.

The higher close on the day partly reflected a late-day by rally by semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.7 percent.

The strength in the sector came after a report from Bloomberg said the Trump administration plans to rescind Biden-era AI chip curbs as part of a broader effort to revise semiconductor trade restrictions.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said the repeal seeks to refashion a policy that created three broad tiers of countries for regulating the export of chips from Nvidia (NVDA) and others.

Airline stocks also ended the day notably higher after an early rally, resulting in a 1.2 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

The volatility on the day also came as traders reacted to the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement.

While the Fed left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, the central bank also warned of increasing risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region mostly higher on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.8 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.3 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 3.3 basis points to 4.275 percent.

Looking Ahead

Reports on initial jobless claims and labor productivity may attract attention on Thursday, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on the latest batch of earnings news.