US stocks rose on Wednesday as gains in financial shares were powered by growing expectations for a December interest rate hike and on hopes President Donald Trump's administration may be making progress on a tax plan.
New orders for US-made capital goods increased more than expected in August and shipments maintained their upward trend, pointing to underlying strength in the economy.
The data, coupled with comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday boosted anticipation the Federal Reserve would raise US interest rates in December, lifting yields on US Treasuries, which in turn pushed financials up 1.3 per cent.
“With rates going up, that is why banks move. If rates go up and are sustainable they can start to make some money,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta, Georgia.
Trump proposed the biggest tax overhaul in three decades but offered scant details about how to pay for the cuts without dramatically driving up federal deficits. If passed, the plan would be Trump's first significant legislative win since taking office in January.
“For the first time since we have had Trump and the administration in office, it looks like there is incrementally more of a possibility of tax reform going through that would actually be meaningful,” said Martin.
The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks rose 1.92 per cent and notched its best day since early March. Small-cap names are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of a tax cut.
Traders now see about a 78 per cent chance of a December rate hike, compared with roughly 73 per cent a week ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Bank of America rose 2.42 per cent and Goldman Sachs gained 2.1 per cent as the biggest boost to the Dow.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.39 points or 0.25 per cent to 22,340.71, the S&P 500 gained 10.2 points or 0.41 per cent to 2,507.04 and the Nasdaq Composite added 73.10 points or 1.15 per cent to 6,453.26.
Interest-rate-sensitive and dividend-paying sectors declined. Consumer staples index fell 0.73 per cent, while utilities dropped 1.34 per cent and real estate lost 0.84 per cent.
Also serving to cap gains on the Dow and S&P were Nike shares, which declined 1.92 per cent after the company posted its slowest quarterly sales growth in nearly seven years and said it expected a further drop in revenue from North America.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.29-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.71-to-1 ratio favoured advancers. About 6.55 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, compared with the 5.91 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.