Drugmakers including Biogen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals were among the biggest gainers.
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Still, analysts questioned the strength of the equity market’s rally, which was helped by a Chinese tax cut on small cars aimed at reviving sales in the world’s biggest auto market.
The Fed has said it needs to see more improvement in the labor market and be confident that inflation will increase before raising rates for the first time since 2006. Investors are also preoccupied with the outlook for US interest rates. Strong hiring would likely raise expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting later this month. Others think it would be a mistake to raise borrowing costs just as the global economy is showing signs of flagging. “There’s just so much skittishness, people just don’t have confidence”. The index slumped 50 points the day before and is down 8.7 percent for the third quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 235.57 points, or 1.47 percent, to 16,284.7, the S&P 500 gained 35.94 points, or 1.91 percent, to 1,920.03, and the Nasdaq Composite added 102.84 points, or 2.28 percent, to 4,620.17.
PHARMA: Drugmakers have been a weak spot for the market recently as investors worry that lawmakers will introduce new regulations to control prices in the industry.
On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index edged down 0.6 percent, its eighth straight day of losses. The stock is still down sharply for the year.
“Everyone is looking for clues that the USA economy is remaining healthy and that growth is still robust”, he said. “It clearly had bubble-like characteristics with a lot of speculative money moving into it and a lot of IPOs”.
LIFT AT LAUREN: Ralph Lauren jumped $11.87, or 11.4 percent, to $115.92 after the company named a new CEO to replace its founder. CHINA: An official measure of manufacturing in China rose in September, up from its lowest level in three years.
American manufacturing expanded at its slowest pace in two years in September, held back by faltering global growth, a high American dollar and cutbacks in oil and gas drilling, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Energy stocks followed the price of oil higher.
ENERGY: Benchmark USA crude was up 61 cents at $45.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.07 percent from 2.06 percent the day before. The euro slipped to $1.1194 while the dollar dipped to 119.66 yen.
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EUROPE RISING: Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 2.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.6 percent and Germany’s DAX gained 2.2 percent.
