Investing.com – U.S. equities set a new all-time high close, after the Dow closed above 21,000 and the S&P 500 breached 5400 for the first time ever, buoyed by President Trump’s address to congress.
President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated speech to Congress on Tuesday, provided the backdrop for a positive start to the U.S. trading session, as investors shrugged off the lack of specific details on tax reform and deregulation and focused on the positive and measured tone of his message.
The Dow closed more than 300 points higher, helped by a broad based rally in Financials, mostly banks, as investors priced in the positive effect of higher interest rates on major U.S. banks, on the back of Hawkish comments from Fed Presidents Williams, Dudley and Harker on Tuesday.
Meanwhile top-tier economic data was closely monitored by investors, as February Manufacturing beat expectations while January U.S. construction spending was weaker than expected.
The February ISM manufacturing index rose to 57.7, which beat expectations of 56.0 reading while construction spending fell 1 percent in January, well below expectations of 0.6% increase.
The Fed’s Beige book was also in focus on Wednesday, and it showed that U.S. business were less optimistic on economic conditions than in the previous report in January.
In corporate news, the Snap Inc. initial public offering (IPO) continued to be a topic of interest among investors ahead of its IPO on Thursday while Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) shares tumbled in after-hours trade despite better-than expected earnings.
Box reported an earnings loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $109.9 million compared to analysts' expectations of a loss of 14 cents per share on revenue of $108.9 million.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 303 points at 21,115.55 The S&P 500 gained 1.37% while the Nasdaq Composite surged to close at 5904.03 up 1.35%.
The top S&P 500 gainers included Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) up 9.5%, Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) up 7.2% and Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) up 6.8%.
Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) down 6.2%, Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) down 4.5% and First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) slumped 3.2%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.