Stocks opened decisively higher on Wednesday as corporate earnings and the prospect of lower interest rates brought cheer to traders and investors.
Morgan Stanley shares jumped nearly 7% after its earnings report showed better results than those of rival Goldman Sachs. Big-cap stocks were higher. Tech-giant Oracle jumped nearly 3% to $353.30.
To confirm the point about interest rates, the strongest sector to start the day was utilities, whose prices are heavily impacted by what happens in the bond markets.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
The 10-year Treasury yield was just above 4%, the lowest level seen this year.
At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Standard & Poor’s Index was up 0.8% to 6,698.48. The Nasdaq Composite was up 205 points, or 0.9%, to 22,727, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 266 points, or 0.6% to 46,585.
