Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated that the timeline for interest rate increases was uncertain which investors interpreted to mean no rate hikes in June. The markets closed sharply higher with the Dow soaring 113 points to 17,920. Nasdaq gained 26 points to 4,968.
On the upside
ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) will acquire the Dutch business of Ciber (NYSE: CBR).
Rising crude oil prices lifted shares of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK).
Tribune Publishing (NYSE: TPUB) shareholders support selling the company to Gannett (NYSE: GCI).
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Corbus Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CRBP).
JMP Securities downgraded Barracuda Networks (NYSE: CUDA) from a Market Perform rating to a Market Underperform rating.
Sasol (NYSE: SSL) warned of lower full year earnings.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 10 points to 2,109. Bitcoin climbed $12 to $578.