KSU - Stocks Kick off September with Strong Gains

U.S. stocks rose slightly Wednesday led by technology shares after the S&P 500 notched a seven-month win streak in August.

The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 50.9 points to start the day at 35,309.83.

The S&P 500 plowed ahead 5.22 points to 4,527.90. The index has had a pretty smooth ride so far in 2021, up more than 20% without even a 5% pullback. The benchmark has closed above its 200-day average, for 296 days in a row.

The NASDAQ Composite jumped 85.14 points, to 15,341.37, thanks to a 1.7% jump in Apple shares to an all-time high.

The major averages all finished higher for the month of August. The S&P 500 rose 2.9% for the month, posting its best winning streak since 2017. The NASDAQ gained about 4% for its third positive month and while the Dow lagged, it still added 1.2%.

Solar stock Sunrun surged 7% after JPMorgan predicted a comeback that would take the shares 90% higher.

Zoom Video shares rebounded 2.8% following a 16% plunge Tuesday after Cathie Wood revealed she bought nearly 200,000 shares on the dip.

Investors digested a disappointing employment report. U.S. companies created far fewer jobs than expected in August with private payrolls rising just 374,000, according to payroll services firm ADP. That is well below the Dow Jones estimate of 600,000.

The report is a precursor to the official August U.S. non-farm payrolls data, which will be released Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 720,000 jobs were created in August and the unemployment rate fell to 5.2%.

Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were moved higher, lowering yields to 1.30% from Tuesday's 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices slid $1.08 to $67.42 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $1.40 to $1,816.70 U.S. an ounce.