U.S. stocks drifted higher following strong profit reports from big companies.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% Wednesday after flipping between modest gains and losses through the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6%.
BlackRock helped lead the market after becoming the latest financial company to report a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Stocks got a lift from easing yields in the bond market after data showed U.S. inflation slowed at the wholesale level last month. Oil prices swung near their highest levels in a month.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 rose 28.81 points, or 0.4%, to 7,572.40.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 150.37 points, or 0.3%, to 52,658.64.
The Nasdaq composite rose 162.22 points, or 0.6%, to 26,269.23.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.50 points, or 0.4%, to 2,976.26.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is down 2.99 points, or less than 0.1%.
The Dow is up 21.63 points, or less than 0.1%.
The Nasdaq is down 12.38 points, or less than 0.1%.
The Russell 2000 is down 1.55 points, or 0.1%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 726.90 points, or 10.6%.
The Dow is up 4,595.35 points, or 9.6%.
The Nasdaq is up 3,027.24 points, or 13%.
The Russell 2000 is up 494.35 points, or 19.9%.
