U.S. stock indexes ended sharply higher on Wednesday as investors weighed earnings reports and better-than-expected economic data after kicking off August with back-to-back losses in the wake of geopolitical tensions generated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. What happened
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+1.29%
finished 416.33 points higher, or 1.3% to end at 32,812.50.
The S&P 500
SPX,
+1.56%
gained 63.98 points, or 1.6% to close at 4,155.17.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+2.59%
ended 319.40 points higher, or 2.6% to 12,668.16.
Stocks ended a choppy session with hefty losses Tuesday, with the Dow dropping over 400 points, or 1.2%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.2%.
What drove the market Earnings season continued with solid reports from PayPal Holdings Inc.
PYPL,
+9.25%
and Moderna Inc.
MRNA,
+15.97%
lifting stocks. PayPal shares surged 9.3% Wednesday after the payments company beat analysts’ earnings and revenue estimates and announced a $15 billion share repurchasing program. Moderna said it expects to deliver $21 billion worth of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters this year, sending shares up 16%. “I think if earnings come in sort of mid-to-high single digits, it’s a meaningful positive because I think one of the pillars of the bears case is that earnings estimates have to be rerouted dramatically lower, and so …