Stocks closed higher for the third day in a row on Wednesday as investors welcomed a crop of solid company earnings and encouraging economic news from China and the U.S. The major stock indexes hit their highest level since April 9. Yahoo and Delta Air Lines posted some of the biggest gains. For every stock that declined, nearly four rose.
On Wednesday:
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 162.29 points, or 1 percent, to 16,424.85.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 19.33 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,862.31.
The Nasdaq composite added 52.06 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,086.23.
For the week:
The Dow is up 398.10 points, or 2.5 percent.
The S&P 500 has risen 46.62 points, or 2.6 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 86.49 points, or 2.2 percent.
For the year:
The Dow is down 151.81 points, or 0.9 percent.
The S&P 500 index is up 13.95 points, or 0.8 percent.
The Nasdaq composite is down 90.36 points, or 2.2 percent.
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