US stocks were slightly up on Wednesday after news of a successful Portuguese debt auction eased the previous day's concerns about the European economy.3 b( e' a. j2 r% T' J( m6 U4 P, u
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 60.17 points (0.58 percent) to 10,400.86 at 1410 GMT, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 6.28 points (0.56 percent) to 1,097.91 points./ k ?. `) \ t0 ]7 ]3 {
The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index was up 15.55 points (0.69 percent) to 2,224.16.
6 u8 p6 e7 V7 i, {8 | Wall Street closed with losses on Tuesday, with the Dow losing 107 points after traders returning from a long weekend holiday cashed in on last week's robust gains amid concerns over the European banking system.
3 }/ V4 s' x( l4 ] But Portugal's bond auction on Wednesday eased concerns over the strength of the euro-zone, said Joseph Hargett, analyst at Schaeffer's Investment research.
7 ]- U& S- T0 s9 N: k( w4 R2 u! B Traders are waiting for the release at 1800 GMT of the Federal Reserve's beige book, a summary of current economic conditions, which will offer further indications on how the US economy is faring.- U( E8 g* b3 L& F/ i
At around the same time, President Barack Obama is expected to unveil in a speech in Cleveland, Ohio his two-year plan for 200 billion dollar tax cuts for businesses as he struggles to show progress in his efforts to battle the economic downturn ahead of November's mid-term elections.4 \, E! e* x" j
"Conviction is still low, pessimism high and volume light, which adds up to more volatility and range bound trading in our estimation," said Scott Marcouiller, an analyst at Wells Fargo.
7 p1 j. j( t# w: z! { Among the stocks in focus, BP shares were almost three percent higher after it said in its much-anticipated report on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that it was caused by human and technical failures by BP and other sides.
/ U8 H x0 Z c5 q) e8 c Computer giant Hewlett-Packard saw its stocks drop 2.23 percent after it had filed suit against former CEO Mark Hurd after he was named a co-president at US business software giant Oracle.
2 y5 c! I L8 s2 {2 x1 r The bond market was slightly lower.
( W, c( x) r1 T# O) h0 { The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond jumped to 2.648 percent from 2.609 percent on Tuesday while that on the 30-year bond was up to 3.711 percent from 3.669 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions. |