Wall Street closes out its 5th straight quarterly gain

Wall Street on Wednesday closed out its fifth straight quarterly gain, continuing its comeback from a steep drop in early 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% Wednesday, bringing its advance over the past three months to 8.2%, and 14.4% for the first half of the year.

Optimism over the economy’s prospects as coronavirus restrictions continue to lift has sent the market to a series of record highs, including the third straight for the S&P 500.

Trading Wednesday was relatively subdued as investors wait for the government’s monthly jobs report due out Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 210 points, or 0.6%, to 34,502. The S&P 500 added 5.7 points, 0.13%, to 4,297. The NASDAQ composite lost 24 points, or 0.17%, to 14,503.