March 10 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a record on Wednesday as the House passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill and bond yields continued to fall.
The blue-chip index gained 464.28 points, or 1.46%, to climb to a record high of 32,297.02. The S&P 500 gained 0.60%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed flat, falling 0.038%.
Markets responded positively as House Democrats voted 220-211 to pass President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, sending it to the White House where he is expected to sign it on Friday.
Cyclical stocks led the gains amid optimism surrounding economic reopening as the S&P 500’s energy sector climbed 2.6%.
“Today’s strength is coming from pro-cyclical stocks as investors continue to oscillate back and forth between beneficiaries of cyclical growth and those better secularly positioned,” Chris Hussey, managing director at Goldman Sachs, said according to CNBC.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.52% dropping 2.4 basis points from where it started the day after a $38 billion auction for benchmark 10-year notes.
Markets have closely watched bond yields in recent weeks amid concerns about inflation as the Federal Reserve looks to support economic recovery from the pandemic.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reported strong gains on Tuesday as a decline in tech yields led to a surge in tech stocks.
