4 p.m.

Stocks are finishing with big gains as banks rise with interest rates and technology companies recover some of their recent losses.

JPMorgan Chase rose 2 percent Wednesday. Investors bet banks will make more money on lending as rates increase.

Among tech companies, Apple rose 1.5 percent and TripAdvisor jumped 4.5 percent. Energy companies rose as oil futures climbed for the fifth consecutive day.

Consumer-focused companies also jumped as stocks recovered the previous day's losses. Staples jumped 8.5 percent on reports of a possible sale.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index made its biggest gain in two months. It advanced 21 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,440.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 143 points, or 0.7 percent, to 21,454. The Nasdaq composite added 87 points, or 1.4 percent, to 6,234.

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11:55 a.m.

Stocks are climbing as banks rise along with interest rates and industrial and consumer-focused companies also make big gains.

Interest rates continued to increase Wednesday, which will let banks make bigger profits on mortgages and other loans.

JPMorgan Chase rose 1.4 percent and Fifth Third Bancorp added 2 percent.

Medical device company Spectranetics surged 26 percent after Dutch electronics and health care technology company Philips agreed to buy the company for $38.50 a share, or $1.68 billion.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 20 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,440.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 162 points, or 0.8 percent, to 21,473. The Nasdaq composite picked up 60 points, or 1 percent, to 6,206.

Small-company stocks made larger gains and the Russell 2000 index soared 1.5 percent.

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9:35 a.m.

Stocks are bouncing back in morning trading as banks continued to rise along with interest rates.

Higher interest rates will let banks make bigger profits on mortgages and other types of loans. Industrial companies and basic materials makers also rose Wednesday morning.

Medical device company Spectranetics surged 26 percent after Dutch electronics and health care technology company Philips said it agreed to buy the company for $38.50 a share, or $1.68 billion.

Stocks fell a day ago as technology companies took renewed losses.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 13 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,432.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 117 points, or 0.6 percent, to 21,427. The Nasdaq composite picked up 24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,170.