Major U.S. stock indexes mounted a solid comeback Wednesday, recovering their Tuesday losses and finishing on track for a weekly gain.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 15.20 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 1,888.03. The index is up 2.2 percent for the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 158.75 points, or nearly 1 percent, to end at 16,533.06. It was the Dow Jones average's biggest gain in five weeks.
The Nasdaq composite index added 34.65 points, or 0.9 percent, to finish at 4,131.54.
The Dow and Nasdaq remain down for 2014.
Small-company stocks also rebounded. The Russell 2000 index rose 5.73 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,103.63.
In the absence of any major new economic data, investors focused on companies reporting quarterly earnings or otherwise generating headlines.
Tiffany & Co. was a favorite early on, vaulting more than 9 percent on a sharp increase in earnings and revenue. Traders also cheered news of Netflix's plans to make a deeper foray into Europe, sending the Internet video service's shares up 5 percent.
Investors got a closer look at discussions held by the Federal Reserve's policymakers in their most recent meeting last month. Wall Street's reaction was muted, however, and the market kept on the upward trajectory it set upon early on.
U.S. index futures rose before the opening of regular stock trading. The market opened higher and stayed in positive territory throughout the day.
Major indexes have finished higher three of the past four trading days.
"Since there was no real solid news to continue into a two-day sell-off, we're getting a little bit of a bounce today," said Joe Peta, a managing director of Novus.
Bond prices fell, driving the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note up to 2.54 percent from 2.51 percent late Tuesday.
The Fed meeting minutes released Wednesday shed little new light on a key question for many investors: When will the Fed start raising interest rates?
Fed officials discussed how to unwind the support the central bank has given the economy once they decide to begin raising the Fed's key short-term rate. Because the economy is still recovering, most analysts don't think the Fed will start raising rates before the second half of 2015.
The market got a more detailed look at corporate America with a new batch of company earnings.
Tiffany said its earnings spiked 50 percent in the first quarter as worldwide sales jumped by double digits and the company raised its prices. The results beat analysts' expectations and the jeweler raised its earnings forecast for the year. Tiffany's stock jumped $8.07, or 9.1 percent, to $96.30.
"Retail is very fickle right now, but some sectors are doing well, like luxury," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management.
Netflix shares rose $18.93, or 5.1 percent, to $390.60 after the company said it will expand into Germany, France and four other European countries later this year.
Trading volume was lighter than usual Wednesday, something that's likely to continue this week as the Memorial Day weekend nears.
Business on 05/22/2014