Stocks rallied as Wall Street shook off more of the fear that dominated it earlier this month.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also rose. They followed similar gains in other markets around the world.
A measure of nervousness among stock investors on Wall Street is back near its lowest levels since early this month, before Silicon Valley Bank became the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history. The S&P 500 is on track to close a tumultuous month with a modest gain.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 rose 56.54 points, or 1.4%, to 4,027.81.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 323.35 points, or 1%, to 32,717.60.
The Nasdaq composite rose 210.16 points, or 1.8% to 11,926.24.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 18.97 points, or 1.1%, to 1,771.60.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is up 56.82 points, or less than 1.4%.
The Dow is up 480.07 points, or 1.5%.
The Nasdaq is up 102.28 points, or 0.9%.
The Russell 2000 is up 36.68 points, or 2.1%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 188.31 points, or 4.9%.
The Dow is down 429.65 points, or 1.3%.
The Nasdaq is up 1,459.75 points, or 13.9%.
The Russell 2000 is up 10.35 points, or 0.6%.