US stocks closed higher on Wednesday after bank shares rallied on higher interest rates, contributing to the market gains, Xinhua reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 346.41 points, or 1.40 percent, to 25,146.39. The S&P 500 climbed 23.55 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,772.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 51.38 points, or 0.67 percent, to 7,689.24.
Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley all rose more than 2 percent, while Goldman Sachs advanced 1.70 percent, at the market closing.
Investor sentiment was also lifted by a batch of positive corporate news and economic data.
Shares of Tesla surged 9.74 percent in late trading on Wednesday after the company revealed it is nearing the Model 3 weekly production rate.
On the economic front, US international trade deficit in goods and services decreased to 46.2 billion US dollars in April from a revised 47.2 billion US dollars in March, as exports increased and imports decreased, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday. The trade deficit was lower than a market consensus of 49 billion US dollars.
Meanwhile, US nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 0.4 percent during the first quarter of 2018, according to the Labor Department.