NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday as smaller companies soared following a report that showed business investment climbed in August. Investors also hoped stocks will benefit from tax cuts proposed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
The Labor Department said orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose, and a gauge of business investment climbed for the second month in a row. Investors hope that means U.S. manufacturing is getting stronger as the global economy continues to improve, and they bet on continued growth: technology companies rallied for a second day, while the prices of traditionally safe investments like bonds and gold dropped.
“We’ve been waiting for that,” said Kate Warne, an investment strategist for Edward Jones, of the recent improvement. “Business spending has been relatively weak,” with spending by consumers keeping the economy afloat.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 10.20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,507.04. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 56.39 points, or 0.3 percent, to 22,340.71. The Nasdaq composite leaped 73.10 points, or 1.1 percent, to 6,453.26.
The Russell 2000 did even better and continued to set records. It gained 27.95 points, or 1.9 percent, to 1,484.81. After a sluggish few months, the Russell has jumped more than 9 percent since mid-August. The S&P mid-cap and small-cap indexes also climbed.
