Stock Market Climbs, Recovering After Sell-0ff

The stock market climbed on Wednesday, erasing the previous day's broad sell-off, as minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed that the central bank's policy makers were cautiously optimistic about a rebound in the economy.

But the minutes, released Wednesday afternoon, also showed that the Fed remained concerned about weakness in the housing market and persistently low inflation.

"The minutes are in line with what investors are thinking, which is that we see a rebound in growth but it is not to a point where the economy looks overly strong," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 158.75 points, or 0.97 percent, to close at 16,533.06, according to preliminary figures. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 15.20 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,888.03. The Nasdaq composite index added 34.65 points, or 0.85 percent, to 4,131.54.

The day's gains gave the S.&P. 500 its third advance in four days. The S.&P. 500, however, is down nearly 1 percent from its record intraday high on May 13.

Retail stocks were once again in the spotlight. Tiffany jumped 9 percent, making it the best performer on the S.&P. 500, after the jewelry retailer raised its full-year profit forecast. The S.&P. retail sector index gained about 0.8 percent.

Lowe's slipped 0.2 percent after the giant home improvement chain said sales had picked up in May and maintained its full-year sales growth forecast, even as it reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results.

Target rose 1 percent after the retailer reported a 16 percent drop in quarterly profit but showed signs of progress in efforts to rebuild customer confidence.

With earnings season nearly completed, Thomson Reuters data through Wednesday showed that of 478 companies in the S.&P. 500 that have reported earnings, 68.2 percent topped expectations, above the 63 percent average since 1994 and a 66 percent average rate for the past four quarters.

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