Stocks Rally For Second Day

The U.S. stock market is looking to get back on solid footing after falling sharply last week amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its bond-buying program at the September FOMC meeting.

Stocks rose for the second day on Wednesday and the bond market was also strong. Money continued to flow out of precious metals, however, with gold closing at a 3-year low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose around 150 points on the session and the S&P and Nasdaq recorded gains of a little less than 1 percent.

Major Averages
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 150 points, or 1.02 percent, to 14,910.

The S&P 500 climbed 15 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,603.

The Nasdaq added 28 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,376.

GDP - Third Estimate
First quarter GDP was revised down for the third estimate to 1.8 percent growth compared to 2.4 percent growth in the previous estimate. The consensus had expected GDP to remain unrevised at 2.4 percent. Normally, GDP revisions are small, so the large decline for the third estimate caught economists by surprise, although it did not prevent the market from rallying on Wednesday.

Commodities
Crude oil only recorded small gains on Wednesday despite a big rally for stocks. At last check, NYMEX crude futures were up 0.29 percent to $95.60 while Brent contracts were trading higher by 0.55 percent to $101.82. Natural gas futures rose 1.65 percent to $3.71.

Precious metals prices continued to plummet on Wednesday as money moved into equities. COMEX gold futures were last down nearly 4 percent to $1,226.50 while silver futures lost almost 5 percent to $18.59. Copper shed a little less than 1 percent on the day to $3.0475.

In the grains complex, corn and wheat both fell. Corn futures were last down around 0.09 percent while wheat lost 1.17 percent. Movers in soft commodities included lumber and orange juice. Lumber futures traded up 3.42 percent while orange juice lost almost 5 percent on the day.

Bonds
Bond prices rose along with stocks on Wednesday. Near the close of equities, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was up 0.78 percent to $108.72. Yields fell as prices rose on the session.

Treasury yields were as follows on Wednesday afternoon: The 2-Year Note was yielding 0.39 percent while the yield on the 5-Year Note was 1.42 percent. The 10-Year Note and 30-Year Bond were yielding 2.54 percent and 3.58 percent, respectively.

Currencies
The U.S. Dollar continued its rise on Wednesday. Heading into the closing bell, the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.45 percent to $22.50.

The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last trading down 0.66 percent to $1.3003. The only other significant mover on the session was the GBP/USD, which fell 0.75 percent.

Volatility and Volume
The CBOE Volatility Index continued to plunge on Wednesday as the market has bounced back from last week's losses. At last check, the VIX was down more than 7 percent to 17.14.

Volume was lighter than normal on the session. Only around 116 million SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) shares traded hands versus a 3-month daily average of 142 million.

Stock Movers
Home BancShares (HOMB) rose more than 12 percent on Wednesday after the company agreed to merge with Liberty Bancshares. The move will significantly increase the bank's deposit market-share in Arkansas.

Shares of Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) were up almost 10 percent on Wednesday, possibly after receiving a favorable mention on CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer.

Synaptics (SYNA) climbed nearly 9 percent on the day after the company raised its Q4 guidance.

Yelp (YELP) had climbed around 12 percent near the close although there was no news to account for the move. The stock did breakout to a new 52-week high, however, and may be being driven by momentum.

Brocade Communications (BRCD) added more than 6 percent on no news on Wednesday.

Pawn-store operator First Cash Financial Services (FCFS) lost more than 10 percent on Wednesday after the company cut its full-year outlook and provided second-quarter guidance below analysts' expectations.

Rogers Communications (RCI) fell almost 9 percent on the day after reports that Verizon is looking to enter the Canadian telecommunications market.

Apollo Group (APOL), the operator of the University of Phoenix, fell more than 10 percent after the company reported a lower profit for its fiscal third-quarter.

Mistras Group (MG) fell more than 16 percent after the company cut its earnings outlook for the fiscal year.

Shares of gold miner Royal Gold (RGLD) fell almost 8 percent amid slumping prices for the yellow metal.

BY Scott Rubin