Stocks gained Wednesday and rates slid as investors digested key jobs and manufacturing data ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes release.
The Dow Jones Industrials came out of the pit it had been in and leaped 220.54 points near noon Wednesday at 33,356.91
The S&P 500 sprang 43.5 points, or 1.1%, at 3,867,58
The NASDAQ Composite Index recovered 122.96 points, or 1.2%, to 10,560.11.
Shares of Microsoft fell more than 5% after a downgrade from UBS, weighing on the broader market.
The November Job Openings and Labor Turnover report, or JOLTS, came in slightly better than anticipated, signaling continued labor market strength amid the central bank's rate hikes to tame inflation. The ISM manufacturing index, on the flip side, showed a contraction in the sector after 30 months of expansion, signaling that interest rate increases may be working to slow the economy.
Still, investors struggled to find a clear direction ahead of more economic data to come, including Fed meeting minutes due later Wednesday and the December jobs report Friday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 3.69% from Tuesday's 3.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dropped $3.62 to $73.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices heightened $17.10 to $1,863.20 U.S. an ounce.
