Stocks rose on Wednesday as traders looked to shake off Tuesday's losses as economic reopening optimism boosted the broader market. The S&P 500 closed just about 0.9% from a record as the benchmark stayed little changed throughout the month of May.

Investors remained optimistic on Wednesday as the U.S. average daily COVID infection rate fell below 25,000 and as half of the U.S. adult population has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.19% or +7.86 points to 4,195.99

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.03% or +10.59 points to 34,323.05

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.59% or +80.82 points to 13,738.00

Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO on July 5:

Amazon (AMZN  ) CEO and founder Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday that he plans to step down from his position on July 5, when Andy Jassy will formally take over as CEO of the ecommerce giant. Jassy is currently that head of Amazon Web Services cloud computing segment.

"We chose that date because it's sentimental for me, the day Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago," Bezos said Wednesday at the company's annual shareholder meeting, according to CNBC.

Amazon had previously announced in February about the transition, with Bezos set to become executive chairman of the company's board.

Here's how the market is trading Wednesday afternoon:

S&P 500 Index: +0.11% or +4.56 points to 4,192.69

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.01% or +3.31 points to 34,315.77

Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.44% or +60.09 points to 13,717.43

Ford to invest more than $30 billion in EV projects:

Ford (F  ) announced on Wednesday that it planning to invest more than $30 billion by 2025 towards its electric vehicle projects including electrification and battery development. This marks a 36% increased from the $22 billion the company planned to spend in its earlier EV strategy.

In addition to its investment, Ford also expects 40% of its global vehicle volume will be fully electric by 2030.

Here's how the market started trading after open:

S&P 500 Index: +0.16% or +6.86 points to 4,194.99

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.19% or +64.42 points to 34,376.88

Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.38% or +47.97 points to 13,708.75

Amazon agrees to purchase MGM Studios:

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to purchase MGM Studios for $8.45 billion, as the ecommerce giant looks to beef up its Prime Video streaming platform to better compete with giants like Netflix (NFLX  ) and Disney+ (DIS  ).

"MGM has a vast catalog with more than 4,000 films-12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many other icons-as well as 17,000 TV shows-including Fargo, The Handmaid's Tale, and Vikings-that have collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys," said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a press release. "The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team. It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling."