Dow soars 440 points as sharp tech turnaround leads market-wide rebound

• US stocks climbed on Wednesday, ending a three-day sell-off that saw the Nasdaq composite decline more than 10%.
• Technology stocks led the market higher, just as they led the it lower during the tumultuous three-day period.
• Wednesday's big gainers included Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, which all climbed roughly 4%.
• Watch major indexes update live here.

US stocks staged a strong rally on Wednesday after a three-day sell-off driven by tech shares led to a more than 10% decline in the Nasdaq composite index.

Leading the markets higher on Wednesday were the same stocks that led the it lower over the past week. Shares of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft climbed roughly 4%, while Tesla closed 11% higher.

Apple's three-day decline ultimately amounted to a 14% skid that pushed its market capitalization below $2 trillion for the first time since August 20, according to data from YCharts.com. By mid-afternoon traded on Wednesday, the tech titan had reclaimed the $2 trillion market cap threshold.

Here's where US indexes stood at at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 3,398.96, up 2%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 27,940.47, up 1.6% (440 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 11,141.56, up 2.7%

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On the COVID-19 vaccine front, AstraZeneca suffered a setback when it paused its trial because of a suspected adverse reaction in a participant. Shares fell as much as 3% on Wednesday. It served as a reminder to investors that developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus will take time and cannot be rushed.

Many companies developing other experimental COVID-19 vaccines rallied after AstraZeneca paused its trial. Moderna led all gainers, while shares of Pfizer, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmithKline also climbed.

In the mergers-and-acquisitions space, Tiffany plunged after LVMH called off its proposed $16 billion acquisition of the jewelry retailer, citing potential trade-war tariffs on US goods as the main reason.

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In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said the stock market is in a fed-fueled "raging mania" that could lead to a five-year hangover.

US job openings increased by 617,000, to 6.6 million, through the month, according to Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey The data signaled a continued labor-market recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in economic shutdowns across the country.

An investment raising eyebrows on Wall Street is one to be made by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. The conglomerate plans to participate in the upcoming IPO of cloud company Snowflake. Berkshire is set to buy 2.5% of the company for $570 million.

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Spot gold climbed 0.8%, to $1,947.99 per ounce. The precious metal held above the $1,900-per-ounce threshold after failing to retake $2,000 at the start of the month.

Oil recovered some of Tuesday's losses spurred by industry giants that continued to slash prices because of demand weakness. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 4.6%, to $38.45 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 3.6%, to $41.20 per barrel, at intraday highs.

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