U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday, helped by banks and reopening stocks as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their highs of the day Wednesday, but still gained 39.24 points to finish at 35,405.50.
The S&P 500 added 9.96 points to 4,496.19, surpassing Tuesday's all-time record close.
The NASDAQ Composite improved on Tuesday's record by 22.06 points to 15,041.86.
Shares of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo each gained about 2%. Regional banks Zions and Regions Financial rose 1.5%, and Fifth Third added 2%.
Travel and leisure stocks were higher, too. Several air carriers and cruise lines held a 1% gain for most of the session. Casino stocks Penn National Gaming rocketed 8.6% and Caesars Entertainment gained 4%. MGM Resorts added 2.9%.
Chip makers were higher, with Western Digital jumping 7.8% after a Wall Street Journal report said the company is in advanced talks to merge with Japan's Kioxia Holdings. Nvidia shares rose nearly 2% after the Department of Energy said its new supercomputer will run on the company's computing platform. Micron Technology also rose, by more than 2.5%.
Markets have been boosted by signs that delta variant cases could be peaking. Fundstrat's Tom Lee said in a note to clients late Tuesday that the worst may be behind us, citing a falling positivity rate in Florida and Texas.
Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday that its COVID Vaccine booster shot showed promising results in early stage clinical trials, significantly increasing virus-fighting antibodies. The stock dipped slightly nevertheless.
Delta Airlines said Wednesday it would raise health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees to cover higher COVID costs. The company has about 75,000 employees and roughly 75% of them are fully vaccinated. On Tuesday Goldman Sachs it will require employees to entering its offices to be fully vaccinated. Delta improved 1.9%, and Goldman added 1.1%.
Wells Fargo Securities head of equity strategy Christopher Harvey also sees more gains on the horizon. He lifted his year-end S&P 500 target to 4,825 on Tuesday, which is 7.5% above where the index finished the day. Harvey's call is based on its strength through August carrying over into the final months of the year.
Dick's Sporting Goods shares soared 13% and hit an all-time high Wednesday after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
The much-anticipated Jackson Hole symposium kicks off on Thursday, where central bankers will potentially provide updates on their plan around tapering monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve has been purchasing at least $120 billion of bonds per month to curb longer-term interest rates and jumpstart economic growth as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is slated to make remarks on Friday.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys dipped, pulling up yields to 1.34% from Tuesday's 1.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 69 cents to $68.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faltered $16.00 to $1,792.50 U.S. an ounce.