A comeback for the ages? The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index on Wednesday finished in positive territory, marking their biggest comebacks in months.
The Dow DJIA, +0.30% DJIA rose by about 102 points, registering the biggest intraday turnaround for the blue-chip index since Dec. 21, 2020, according to the folks at Dow Jones Market Data. The price-weighted index had been down by as much as 1.3%, or 459 points, at Wednesday’s low.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.47% closed up 0.5%, after being down 1.2% at its intraday nadir. The technology-laden index’s finish in positive territory, during the tumultuous session, represented the best comeback since March 25.
The Dow, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 index SPX, +0.41% all got off to rough starts on Wednesday as concerns about inflation and the debt-ceiling debate in Washington cast a pall over Wall Street and dulled a turnaround on Tuesday that helped stocks regain some of their bullish luster.
The equity market began to gain some altitude on Wednesday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was seen extending an olive branch to Democrats in tense budget talks that have the debt ceiling in its crosshairs. McConnell has made a new offer to the Democratic-run Senate to “use normal procedures to pass an emergency debt limit extension at a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December,” the Kentucky Republican, said..
A clash over the U.S. budget if not resolved by Oct. 18 holds the potential for a U.S. government default due to the debt-ceiling standoff, which has spurred President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to warn about possible major economic damage.
