Stocks Shake Off Brexit Worries To Book Gains

U.S. stocks logged a solid gain Wednesday and the S&P 500 closed within a hair's breadth of the psychologically significant 2,100 level as Wall Street attempted to shake off worries tied to the U.K.'s vote late last month to exit the European Union, dubbed Brexit. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 2,099, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 77 points, or 0.4%, to 17,918, supported by a 1.2% rise in health-care shares. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index enjoyed the best rise of the stock-market gauges, climbing 36 points, or 0.8%, to 4,859, led by 2.4% rise in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF . The three main indexes have risen in five of the past six sessions in the wake of the June 23 referendum to exit the the European Union, dubbed Brexit. Reverberations from Brexit were still be felt earlier in the session Wednesday, with haven assets, including government bonds, drawing strong bids and pushing yields to record lows. Indeed, the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yield [s:TMUBMUSD10Y] touched an all-time low of 1.321%, but yields closed higher as risk appetite returned somewhat.

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