Markets were all over the place on Wednesday, with the Dow shedding 459 points at session lows, before snapping back by the close to notch a 100-point win. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also clawed their way back into the black by end of the day, as investors digested news that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed, in a closed meeting of Republicans, to offer a short-term extension of the U.S. debt ceiling in order to avoid national default and a subsequent economic crisis.
Meanwhile, investors rotated back into the beaten-down tech sector, and shifted away from reopening stocks, following a pessimistic review of the airline sector from Goldman Sachs. Also propping up stocks was a better-than-expected ADP employment report for September, which showed private jobs rising to 568,000 for the month.
The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 34,416.99) gained 102.32 points or 0.3%. Microsoft (MSFT) paced the gainers with a 1.5% pop, while Dow (DOW) fell to the bottom, shedding 3.3%.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,363.55) tacked on 17.8 points or 0.4%, for the day, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 14,501.91) jumped 68.1 points, or 0.5% for the day.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 21.00) lost 0.3 points or 1.4%.
OIL SNAPS 4-DAY WIN STREAK
A surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories had oil ending its four-day win streak. This marked crude's second-straight. Meanwhile, natural-gas futures also weighed on the commodity, after dropping over 10% on Russian President Vladimir Putin's promise that the country would boost its fuel supply to Europe. In response, November-dated crude lost $1.50, or 1.9%, to settle at $77.43 a barrel.
Gold prices climbed higher on Wednesday, piggybacking off a drop in Treasury yields and brushing off better-than-expected jobs data for September. December-dated gold added 90 cents or 0.05%, to settle at $1,761.80 an ounce for the day.
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