Tech stocks continued their recovery from their summer swoon on Wednesday, closing at their highest level in four months.
The Nasdaq, which moved back into positive territory for the year on Tuesday, notched another recovery milestone Wednesday when it crossed its 200-day moving average for the first time since mid-May.
The market rally comes amid hope that the Federal Reserve may have engineered a “soft” landing, reining in inflation without dragging the economy into recession. Inflation reports on Friday and Tuesday will give investors more data on inflation — just in time for the Fed’s next decision on interest rates on Sept. 20.
HP didn’t participate in Wednesday’s rally, losing 1.5% on reports that the company could face charges in the leak scandal that ousted chairwoman Patricia Dunn on Tuesday.
Apple gained 2% on optimism over the company’s latest digital media offerings.
WiderThan soared 19% on a takeover offer from RealNetworks
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Answers.com jumped 13% on record traffic.
RF Industries soared 53% on its results.
The Nasdaq rose 11 to 2227, the S&P 500 added 5 to 1318, and the Dow gained 45 to 11,543. Volume declined to 2.66 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.94 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 22-10 on the NYSE, and 19-10 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 69% on the NYSE, and 72% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 239-51 on the NYSE, and 149-75 on the Nasdaq.