The four straight gains for the overall S&P 500 mark its longest winning streak since early February.
Stocks bubbled even higher on Wednesday, vaulting Wall Street back to where it was just one week after it set its all-time high earlier this year, as optimism builds that the economy can climb out of its current hole relatively quickly.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent for its fourth straight gain as lockdowns loosen around the world and raise hopes for a coming economic recovery. Treasury yields also strengthened in a sign of improved confidence after reports suggested that while the U. S. economy is still getting pummeled, it may not be as bad as economists had feared.
“It’s fairly clear to us that the economy clearly bottomed in late April and early May,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D. A. Davidson. “At some point the concern will be on the pace of the recovery and not just the recovery itself.”
The S&P 500 rose 42.05 points to 3,122.87, the latest upward move in its nearly 40 percent surge since late March. The index is back above where it was on Feb. 26, one week after setting its record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 527.24 points, or 2 percent, to 26,269.89, and the Nasdaq composite rose 74.54, or 0.8 percent, to 9.682.91.
A survey from payroll processor ADP said that private employers cut nearly 2.8 million jobs last month, but that was much milder than the 9.3 million that economists told investors to expect. That raises optimism that Friday’s more comprehensive jobs report from the U. S. government may also not be as bad as feared. Economists say it may show a loss of 8 million jobs, which would be a deceleration from April’s loss of 20.5 million jobs.
Other reports showed an economy that remains in bad shape, but not quite as terrible as economists had forecast. One report said the nation’s services industries contracted by less than economists expected, and at a more modest rate than in April. Another report said factory orders dropped 13 percent in April, but not by as much as the 14.8 percent that economists had forecast.
