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Wall Street on track for best one-day gain in a month

United States stocks were up more than one per cent on yesterday, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain in about a month, helped by a rally in financial shares ...

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United States stocks were up more than one per cent on yesterday, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain in about a month, helped by a rally in financial shares and with commodity prices boosting energy and industrial stocks.

Amazon jumped 3.2 per cent to a record of $701.40, providing the biggest boost on the S&P and the Nasdaq. Bernstein raised its price target to $1,000, the highest on Wall Street, on the stock, saying it expects Amazon’s margins to expand much faster than currently expected.

All 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.53 per cent rise in the industrials index .SPLRCI. Oil was up about four per cent as supply disruptions in Canada and elsewhere overshadowed fears of oversupply.

World stock markets had also risen, helped by solid corporate earnings in Europe, progress on Greek debt talks, and a new pledge by Japan that it was prepared to weaken the yen.

“Comments from Japan regarding an intervention in the yen and a stabilization in oil prices are helping equities today,” said Dan Farley, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

“We’re also at the end of the earnings season and while we aren’t expecting a massive improvement in profit, I do expect to see some revenue growth in the second quarter.”

At 12:54 p.m. ET (1654 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 194.02 points, or 1.1 percent, at 17,899.93, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 20.71 points, or 1.01 per cent, at 2,079.4.

The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 48.72 points, or 1.03 per cent, at 4,798.93, led by Amazon and IT shares.

All three indexes were set for their biggest intraday percentage gain since April 13.

The S&P 500’s 15 per cent rally since its February lows had slowed in the last two weeks due to underwhelming quarterly earnings and mixed U.S. economic data.

However, U.S. stock’s snapped a three-day losing streak was broken on Friday after the jobs report suggested the Federal Reserve would raise rates just once this year. Wall Street also ended mostly higher on Monday as healthcare shares rose.

The S&P energy sector .SPNY was up about 1.32 per cent. The financials index .SPSY gained 1.38 per cent, with Goldman (GS.N) up 2.5 per cent and JPMorgan up 1.7 per cent.

Gap tumbled 12.3 per cent to $19.11, the biggest drop among S&P 500 companies, after the retailer reported a decline in sales for the fifth straight quarter.

Allergan (AGN.N) was up 3.1 per cent at $220.34 after the Botox maker reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,225 to 701, for a 3.17-to-1 ratio on the upside. On the Nasdaq, 1,833 issues rose and 898 fell for a 2.04-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 index showed 46 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 39 new highs and 46 new lows.

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