Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's third rate cut of the year and comments from Chairman Jerome Powell that signaled it would be a while before the central bank hikes rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dug itself out of negative territory Wednesday afternoon, and climbed 115.27 points to 27,186.09
The S&P 500 regained 9.88 points to 3,046.77, yet another all-time record.
The NASDAQ Composite Index re-strengthened 27.12 points to 8,303.97
Powell and the Fed struck just the right tone to satisfy equity investors by signaling it would pause rate cuts, but wouldn't think of hiking again until inflation moved higher.
Utilities and health care were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500, utilities rising 0.9% and health-care up 0.8%. General Electric was among the S&P 500's biggest advancers on the back of strong earnings.
Johnson & Johnson outperformed all other Dow stocks, rising 2.9% after the company said it found no asbestos in its baby powder after testing.
The corporate earnings season also continued Wednesday with General Electric posting results that topped analyst expectations. GE also raised its forecast for 2019 cash flow, sending its stock up 11.5%.
CME Group and ADP also reported better-than-expected earnings. Apple, Facebook, Starbucks and Lyft are among the companies set to release their results after the bell.
So far, the corporate earnings season has been better than feared. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, 74% have posted better-than-expected
The Commerce Department said U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.9% in the third quarter, topping expected growth of 1.6%. The better-than-expected print was driven by continued consumer spending along with government expenditures.
U.S. private payrolls increased by 125,000 in October, according to ADP and Moody's Analytics. That topped a Dow Jones estimate of 100,000. However, September payrolls were trimmed down by 42,000 to 93,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were up, lowering yields to 1.77% from Tuesday's 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 64 cents to $54.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $7.50 to $1,498.20 U.S. an ounce.