Dow ends at record after Congress approves US stimulus package

The Dow rocketed to a fresh record on Wednesday after Congress approved a $1.9 trillion economic relief package, the last hurdle before President Joe Biden signs it into law.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.5 per cent to 32,297.02, propelled by huge positive moves in traditional industrial companies like Boeing and financial heavyweights like Goldman Sachs.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent to 3,898.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 13,068.83.

The session marked a return to the trends of recent weeks after the Nasdaq rallied on Tuesday following big gains by Apple, Tesla and other tech giants.

The US Congress finally passed Biden's enormous economic relief package on a party-line vote, pumping billions of dollars into US households and unemployed workers and providing support for efforts to alleviate child poverty.

Also read: US Congress passes $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan in a big win for President Joe Biden

Executives surveyed by the Business Roundtable expressed optimism about improving conditions over the next six months, with 72 per cent saying conditions have already recovered or will have recovered by the end of 2021.

Rising energy prices drove US consumer inflation up 0.4 per cent in February, but "core" inflation excluding food and energy edged up just 0.1 per cent from January, according to US data.

Briefing.com analyst Pat O'Hare said the data -- which was roughly in line with expectations -- "placated" investors who have been rattled by higher US Treasury yields in recent weeks.

"The market is still wedded to the reopening narrative and the likelihood that the cyclicals are the place to be," O'Hare said.

Among individual companies, General Electric dropped 5.4 per cent after announcing it will sell its aircraft leasing business to AerCap for $30 billion. AerCap fell 4.7 per cent.

Gaming platform Roblox surged 54.4 per cent in its stock market debut as a direct listing. The platform allows users to create their own video games and gives them a share of related revenue.