Stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday, closing out both March and the first quarter on a high note, as market participants rotated back into high-growth tech names and digested President Joe Biden's new more than $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan.
The Dow and S&P 500 rose 6.6% and 4.3%, respectively, in March, both posting their best monthly gain since November. For the quarter, the Dow and S&P gained 7.8% and 5.8%, respectively, which was their fourth positive quarter in a row. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was the underperformer for both the month and the quarter, gaining only 0.4% for March and 2.8% over the past three months.
On Wednesday, U.S. private employees added more than half a million jobs in March, according to a report from ADP. While job growth slightly missed consensus expectations, March's gain the sector's best monthly increase since September, signaling some recovery from the harsh winter which shuttered some businesses due to increasing coronavirus U.S. infection rates.
Private payrolls increased by 517,000 in March, ADP said, following a revised gain of 176,000 in February.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Shares of Nomura and Credit Suisse added to steep losses on Wednesday as the companies prepared to incur major losses after Archegos Capital defaluted on significant margin calls last week.
For Sector Performance, sectors ended Wednesday's session split with Information Technology
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
For Thursday, market participants will focus on fresh data for weekly jobless claims.