Stocks rose on Wednesday on news that President Donald Trump plans to delay the implementation of auto tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrials grabbed 115.97 points to end the session at 25,648.02, after falling as much as 190 points earlier on.
The S&P 500 recovered 16.55 points to 2,850.96
The NASDAQ Composite gained 87.65 points, or 1.1%, to 7,822.15
Reports circulated Wednesday morning that the Trump administration will delay those levies by up to six months. The news sent auto stocks higher. Fiat Chrysler's U.S.-listed shares rose 1.9% while Ford Motor tacked on 1.2%, and General Motors gained 0.9%.
Other stocks lifting the market included Boeing and Alphabet. Boeing shares rose 0.8% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it expects the aerospace giant to submit its software fix for the 737 Max plane soon. Alphabet, meanwhile gained 4.1% after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the tech giant to $1,400 from $1,300.
Overnight, data released in China showed industrial production rose by 5.4% in April on a year-over-year basis, notching the slowest pace of growth since May 2003. Economists expected an expansion of 6.5%. Chinese retail sales also disappointed economists.
U.S. retail sales fell 0.2% in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 0.2%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.37% from Tuesday's 2.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 41 cents to $62.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shrugged off losses to gain 80 cents to $1,297.10 U.S. an ounce.