Wall Street Highlights: S&P 500 Rises To Snap Three-Day Skid, Nasdaq Gains As Oil Prices Ease

The benchmark index rose 0.5%, with 10 of its 11 sectors closing higher - led by gains in materials and communication services while real estate fell. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index, meanwhile, rose 0.2%.

Among single-stock movers, Dell Technologies Inc. - the top S&P 500 performer - rallied 16% for its best day since May 29 after the company boosted its annual sales forecast by $25 billion due to surging demand for servers to run AI tasks. Credo Technology dropped 20%, its worst day since January 2025, signaling that the communication equipment company's second-quarter revenue forecast beat was not good enough to impress investors after the stock's 44% rally this year.

US stocks have been under pressure as fighting between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz intensified after a period of relative calm, triggering a fresh jump in oil prices as fears grow that the war may drag on indefinitely. On Wednesday, US crude prices steadied around $90 a barrel while bond yields fell.

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As for the stock market itself, the prevailing mood has been relatively calm. The S&P 500 has gone 25 sessions without a drop of at least 1% through Wednesday, a streak of tranquility last seen in mid-May when investors boosted bets that the US economy and earnings growth would remain robust as data showed inflation ebbing. The index is hovering less than 2% from its all-time high.

Traders also parsed data showing US companies added jobs at a more moderate pace in August, underscoring a stable labor market. The figures indicate that employers are still hiring, albeit at a slower pace than in the spring. The August increase was the smallest since the start of the year. The report precedes closely-watched jobs data from the Labor Department on Friday.

"The miss in ADP's numbers highlights downside risk to Friday's jobs report from the government," wrote Bill Adams, chief US economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank. "The ADP data show AI is affecting hiring less than other changes in the economy. Several industries where AI has obvious applications are adding jobs, while industries that seem insulated from it are cutting them."

The Cboe Volatility Index hovered around 15 - a level that doesn't typically signal market stress.

Energy shares held steady on Wednesday. Chevron Corp. plans to invest $7 billion over the next five years through its joint venture partnerships, to more than double crude production in Venezuela, the largest financial commitment so far in a US government-led push to revive the Latin American country's oil industry. Chevron shares gained nearly 0.4%, after dipping earlier in the day as a spike in crude prices eased after rising on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, GitLab Inc. surged 10% after the software company boosted its revenue guidance for the full year, beating the average analyst estimate. MongoDB dropped nearly 14%, with growth in the software company's Atlas product seen coming in below elevated expectations.

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Among other stock movers, FuelCell Energy Inc. tumbled 16% after the power plant builder reported revenue for the third quarter that missed the average analyst estimate. And G-III Apparel fell more than 11% after the clothing company posted disappointing second-quarter sales and provided a third-quarter revenue forecast that also missed expectations.

Sectors in Focus

• Bank stocks rallied Wednesday, among the top gainers in the S&P 500 and sending the benchmark KBW Bank Index up the most since early July.
• Fintech stock laggards like Robinhood Markets Inc., SoFi Technologies Inc. and Affirm Holdings Inc. rose in Wednesday trading after getting buy ratings from Scotiabank's Lance Jessurun, who says that an "incomplete valuation recovery creates an attractive entry point."
• PG&E Corp. and Edison International shares fell after the California assembly adjourned without passing a wildfire liability bill. PG&E also deferred $2 billion of investment after the bill was shelved.