Stocks climbed Wednesday as investors cheered a report of stronger economic growth. Technology companies, retailers, and travel providers all made solid gains.
The Commerce Department raised its estimate for economic growth and said US gross domestic product grew at its fastest pace in two years from April through June. Stocks were wobbly at the outset, but investors’ concerns about tensions between the United States and North Korea appeared to ease, and stocks moved higher as the day wore on.
Along with technology companies and consumer-focused firms, health care companies and banks finished higher. Big names like Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook made some of the biggest gains.
‘‘For all the tough times we’ve had the last couple of weeks, the thing that’s kept the market afloat is the strong economic data,’’ said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. Schutte said stocks should keep rising as long as the economy remains in good shape and inflation doesn’t pick up.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.5 percent to 2,457.59. The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 0.1 percent to 21,892.43. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1 percent to 6,368.31 as technology companies rose for the third day in a row. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 0.6 percent to 1,391.32.
The government raised its GDP projection from last month, and the second-quarter estimate is much better than the first quarter, when growth was 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, private businesses added 237,000 jobs in August, according to a survey by payroll processor ADP.
Chip maker Analog Devices advanced after it announced strong results in the third quarter along with a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the current period. Its stock jumped 5.2 percent. Microsoft gained 1.3 percent, and Facebook picked up 1.1 percent. Amazon rose 1.4 percent, and Bank of America climbed 1.7 percent.
Gasoline prices spiked to two-year highs and oil prices continued to fall as the Gulf region was inundated with rain by Tropical Storm Harvey, which has knocked out significant oil drilling and refining capacity.
Wholesale gasoline rose another 10 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $1.88 a gallon. Benchmark US crude lost 48 cents, or 1 percent, to $45.96 a barrel in New York while Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.14, or 2.2 percent, to $50.86 a barrel in London.
The FDA approved the first treatment that genetically engineers patients’ own blood cells to destroy childhood leukemia.
The drug, Kymriah, is made by Novartis, and several other companies are working on similar treatments. They are called CAR-T therapies.
The approval wasn’t a surprise to investors, and Novartis stock slipped 1.1 percent. Gilead Sciences rallied, however. Earlier this week the company agreed to buy CAR-T drug developer Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion. Its stock gained 7.2 percent. Juno Therapeutics, which is studying a similar treatment, lost 8 percent.
