(Reuters) - U. S. stocks hit record intraday highs on Wednesday, with the Dow breaching the 21,000 mark for the first time ever, as bank stocks surged
on higher chances of an interest rate hike this month, while a more measured tone in President Donald Trump’s speech reassured investors.
However, the markets were more focused on comments on Tuesday from a handful of Federal Reserve officials, including the influential
New York Fed President William Dudley, who said the case for tightening monetary policy had become "a lot more compelling".
In his first address to a joint session of Congress late Tuesday, Trump said he wanted to boost the U. S.
economy with a "massive" tax relief, make a $1 trillion effort on infrastructure and overhaul Obamacare.
First Standard Financial wrote that The markets are trading higher on the softer approach by the President,
ET (1434 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 198.2 points, or 0.95 percent, at 21,010.44, the S&P 500 was up 19.1 points, or 0.80 percent, at 2,382.74
and the Nasdaq Composite was up 47.22 points, or 0.81 percent, at 5,872.66
Wall Street Hits New Highs as Banks Soar on Rate Hike Hopes -
By REUTERSMARCH 1, 2017, 10:00 A. M. E. S.T.
The probability of a March rate hike jumped to 67.5 percent from roughly 30 percent
after the comments from Fed officials, according to Thomson Reuters data.