U.S. stock benchmarks on Wednesday closed higher for a fourth straight session, marking the longest win streak of the year for the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow since late December.
Buying momentum, though modest, was supported by large technology companies, including Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +7.52% GOOG, +7.37% after its banner results, which helped to propel the communication services sector SP500.50, +3.09%, which it is a part.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.63% closed 224 points, or 0.6%, to around 35,629, on a preliminary basis.
- The S&P 500 SPX, +0.94% finished up 0.9% to 4,589.
- The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.50% booked a 0.5% gain to end at roughly 14,418.
- The session’s gain marked the a fourth straight advance for the three main equity benchmarks, the longest win streaks since a similar series of gains ended Dec. 27 for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
- It was the longest win streak for the Dow since a six-session rally ended Dec. 29.
Investors cheered upbeat quarterly results from Alphabet, which is labeled communication services.
Meanwhile, data showed that privately run U.S. businesses reduced employment by 301,000 jobs in January—the biggest drop since the start of the pandemic—as a record omicron wave kept people out of work and delayed hiring plans.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 200,000 gain.