Investing.com – Wall Street rallied on Wednesday as investors brushed aside geopolitical worries.
The S&P 500 was up 17 points or 0.64% to 2,707.13 as of 9:38 AM ET (13:38 GMT) while the Dow composite increased over 149 points or 0.61% to 24,510.84 and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 35 points or 0.47% to 7,431.65.
Global markets were rattled on Tuesday as Italy’s political crisis deepened. Last minute efforts to form a government seem unlikely, with the prospect of elections in July. Investors fear a snap election could become a de facto referendum on the euro.
Meanwhile trade tensions between the U.S. and China remained after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would move ahead with $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. Chinese officials responded overnight that while the news is surprising, it will protect its interests.
Investors were also digesting disappointing economic and jobs data. The first-quarter economic growth of the U.S. was revised down to 2.2%, while ADP jobs data increased by 178,000 compared to the 190,000 forecast.
Banking and technology stocks were among the biggest gainers after the morning bell, with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) up 1.77%, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) increasing 1.44% and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) gaining 0.64%. Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) rose 1.52% while Exxon (NYSE:XOM) Mobile surged 1.45% and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) jumped 1.16%.
Elsewhere luxury fashion brand Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE:KORS) fell 8.52% after it forecast its annual profit below estimates, while General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell 0.39% and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) dipped 0.46%.
In Europe stocks were most up. Germany’s DAX rose 89 points or 0.71% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 16 points or 0.31% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 12 points or 0.16%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 11 points or 0.32% while Spain’s IBEX 35 rallied 38 points or 0.36%.