Wall Street finishes up, GameStop soars
Stocks on Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday as a selloff in technology stocks eased and a rotation into cyclical shares, such as energy stocks, continued.
The Nasdaq index, which traded as much as 1.3% lower earlier in the session, regained its footing by early afternoon and closed higher. The Dow hit a record high in the session.
The major indexes staged a comeback after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments on his second day of testimony to congress soothed inflation worries.
Carin Pai is head of equity strategy at Fiduciary Trust International:
"This is confidence for markets. A confidence-booster in terms of the Fed's commitment to keeping rates low and to support the economy. I don't think the Fed will raise rates too quickly. They've committed to not doing anything to disrupt the potential for the economy to re-gain its footing."
Among the biggest movers on Wall Street: Gamestop. The video game retailer surged more than 100% before shares were halted. It announced this week its chief financial officer will resign.
The company was at the center of a stock-trading frenzy in late January which saw retail investors drive up its stock, hitting hedge funds who had been betting against the company.
Tesla meanwhile gained 6% after star investor Cathie Wood's Ark Invest fund bought more shares, to the tune of $171 million, in the wake of a sharp fall in the electric-car maker's stock.
