Wall Street ends sharply higher, led by finance, tech

US stock indices closed higher on Wednesday, with S&P 500 moving back into the black this month, while marking the best session in two months after registering the heaviest loss in six weeks yesterday, which pushed the index to the lowest since May 31. 

A decision by Senate majority leader Mitch Mcconnell to delay the vote on a replacement healthcare bill for the previous program known as "Obamacare" weighed little on risk appetite today, as investors reassess this delay that puts the Republican president Donald Trump further away from achieving his campaign promises. 

Otherwise, finance stocks rose today, led by JPMorgan & Chase and Bank of America after the benchmark ten-year bond yields rose, while the price gulf between short term and long term US bonds widened, ahead of the results for the stress tests on US banks by the Federal Reserve later. 

Earlier US data showed the goods trade deficit shrinking more than expected, while wholesale inventories rose past expectations in May, as pending home sales fell unexpectedly last month. 

Federal Reserve Governor Janet Yellen ruled out another financial crisis at least in her life, due to the baking reforms made after the 2007-2008 banking collapse, while saying it would be good if reforms made since the last crisis carried on. 

Yellen urged those who helped overcome the crisis back then to work hard to prevent any loosening of these reforms, while asserting the Federal Reserve will continue tightening its monetary policy gradually, and trim down its holdings of treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities collected after the last crisis to underpin the economy. 

Yellen said some asset values look overpriced, while Fed Deputy Governor Stanley Fischer pointed to the importance of Fed's monitoring of financial stability, as San Francisco Federal Reserve president John Williams said investors should be very content about risks, while the stock markets work pretty much on fumes. 

Dow Jones closed up 0.68%, or 143.95 points to 21,454.61, while Standard and Poor's 500 jumped 0.88%, or 21.31 points to 2,440.69. NASDAQ Composite spiked 1.43%, or 87.79 points to 6,234.41. 

Gold futures due on August 16 rose 0.25% to $1,250.00 an ounce from the opening of $1,246.90, while the dollar index inched down 0.36% to 96.05 from the opening of 96.39, marking a nine-month trough. 

Otherwise, US crude futures due on August 16 rallied 1.24% to $44.79 a barrel from the opening of $44.24, while Brent crude futures due on August 16 climbed 1.56% to $47.38 a barrel from the opening of $46.65.