U.S. stocks rally after Trump comments on Iran's attack

Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-09 05:49:13|Editor: ZX

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Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on Jan. 8, 2020. U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday as market fears were partly relieved after President Donald Trump's comments on Iran's missile strike against Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 161.41 points, or 0.56 percent, to 28,745.09. The S&P 500 increased 15.87 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,253.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 60.66 points, or 0.67 percent, to 9,129.24. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday as market fears were partly relieved after President Donald Trump's comments on Iran's missile strike against Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 161.41 points, or 0.56 percent, to 28,745.09. The S&P 500 increased 15.87 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,253.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 60.66 points, or 0.67 percent, to 9,129.24.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 closed higher, with technology up 1.03 percent, outpacing the rest. Energy fell 1.74 percent, the worst-performing group.

Trump said on Wednesday that no Americans or Iraqis died in Iran's missiles attack against U.S. forces in Iraq on Tuesday (U.S. Eastern Time), vowing to impose powerful economic sanctions against Iran.

The Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday that Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq, causing a steep sell-off in the U.S. stock futures Tuesday night.

A U.S. drone struck a convoy at Baghdad International Airport last Friday, killing Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sparking outrage and revenge threats from Tehran.

The U.S. equities market has been volatile these days as traders grappled with fears of a wider conflict between the two nations.

On the economic front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 202,000 jobs from November to December, payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported Wednesday.