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NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in financial markets (all times local):
4 p.m.
Stocks are closing solidly higher on Wall Street, led by gains in banks, technology and energy companies.
Banks rose along with bond yields Wednesday after sustaining big losses a day ago. JPMorgan Chase rose 2.3 percent.
Investors were relieved by signs that Italy might have not hold new elections after all. Global markets had stumbled the day before on worries over the possibility of new elections that could become a referendum on Europe's third-largest economy leaving the euro.
The S&P 500 index rose 34 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,724.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 306 points, or 1.3 percent, to 24,667. The Nasdaq composite climbed 65 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,462.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.84 percent.
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11:45 a.m.
U.S. stocks are recovering nearly all of the ground they lost the day before as investors hope Italy might be able to avoid a new round of elections.
Banks are rising along with bond yields Wednesday after sustaining big losses a day ago. KeyCorp rose 2.2 percent.
Energy companies are breaking out of a five-day losing streak as oil prices rise. Exxon Mobil surged 3.5 percent.
Smaller companies are rising sharply. They suffered only modest losses the day before.
The S&P 500 index rose 30 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,720.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 240 points, or 1 percent, to 24,600. The Nasdaq climbed 64 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,461.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.86 percent.
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9:35 a.m.
Hopes that new elections in Italy can be avoided helped send stocks broadly higher in the U.S. and Europe.
The gains early Wednesday on Wall Street erased about half of the market's losses from a day earlier, when investors worried that an impasse in Italian politics could destabilize the euro.
Banks, which took heavy losses the day before, rebounded. JPMorgan Chase added 1.5 percent. U.S. banks were benefiting from a turn higher in bond yields, which allows them to charge higher interest rates on loans.
The S&P 500 index rose 16 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,706.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 162 points, or 0.6 percent, to 24,517. The Nasdaq climbed 34 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,431.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.85 percent.
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