All three major U.S. stock indexes were headed higher in Wednesday’s final hour of trading, with the S&P 500 edging toward a new record close, as investors remained upbeat about the prospect of solid corporate earnings reports.
“The fact of the matter is that the market is generally really bullish because there’s going to be earnings growth from the largest stocks,” said Ryan Jacobs, founder of Florida-based advisory firm Jacobs Investment Management. “And there hasn’t been much talk I’m hearing about the attacks on the Fed, so that has slipped to the wayside for now.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up almost 175 points, or 0.4%, at about 45,593.
The S&P 500 was up 17 points, or almost 0.3%, at around 6,483. Its current record close of 6,468.54 was reached on Aug. 14.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 38 points, or 0.2%, at around 21,581.
