A late-day buying spree pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index to a 0.3% gain after pulling it out of so-called correction territory - a drop of 10% or more from its recent high.
Early in the day, benchmark stock indexes flirted with near 4-month lows as investors anticipated guidance from the Fed later this week about its plans to raise interest rates to tame inflation, which is at its highest level in nearly four decades. “There's a short-term panic and part of that is the high level of uncertainty around what the Fed is going to do,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.
Higher interest rates tend to make shares in high-flying tech companies and other expensive growth stocks relatively less attractive. Tech stocks accounted for much of the S&P 500's early slide. The sector ended up higher overall, though some big names didn't recover entirely. Apple fell 0.5%.