The main benchmarks added to gains after the release of the minutes of the November meeting of the Fed's policy makers, the main benchmarks.
The S&P 500 stormed 33 points (1.6%) higher to 2084 while the Nasdaq Composite topped that gain, rising 1.8%, or 89 points, to 5,075. The somewhat longer-in-the-tooth Dow tried vainly to keep up, advancing 1.4%, or 248 points, to 17,737.
“The minutes show Fed members continue to debate back and forth on the right call to make for the U.S. economy. The notes [show] some members are still wary of hiking too soon and stifling the momentum of the economy,” reckons Alfonso Esparza, an analyst at FX trading platform OANDA.
“The flip side of that argument is made by members who believe the Fed could further miscommunicate its intentions to the market and take a bigger credibility hit that could jeopardize monetary policy going forward. The risks of keeping the rate unchanged are outweighing the potential damage done by hiking sooner rather than later but the fact that there is still internal debate reduces the probability of a rate hike in December,” Esparza concluded.
Esparza's conclusion was not universally shared, with some pundits pointing to wording in the statement that indicated a majority of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) believe the circumstances in which a rate hike would be justified could well be in place by the time of the meeting.
Despite the strong rise by the S&P, not all blue-chips participated in the rise, including two big names in the retail sector.
Target (NYSE:TGT) fell 4.3% after it reported a higher quarterly profit and raised the low end of its fiscal-year forecast.
Target reported slower growth in online sales and margin pressures.
Meanwhile, Staples fell 2.7% after the world's largest retailer of office products said profit slipped in its latest quarter as sales remained under pressure.
The market's biggest company by market capitalization, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), climbed US$3.60 to US$117.29 after Goldman Sachs added it to its 'conviction buy' list.
Railroad company Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) chugged forward to US$92.49 from US$86.97 overnight as the Canadian Pacific (TSE:CP) launched its much anticipated takeover bid; CanPac shares were up 5.6% at C$194.94 in Toronto.
Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) was the top performer on Nasdaq, soaring by two-thirds of its overnight value to close at US$5.40, as it announced it is moving forward with the development program for ANAVEX 2-73, its Alzheimer's treatment.
Guidance received from the FDA confirms the company’s strategy to advance ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in a larger double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2/3 trial.