U.S. stocks move higher ahead of jobs report, Greek referendum

Investing.com - Investing.com -- U.S. stocks moved broadly higher on the first day of trading of the second half of the year, ahead of Thursday's release of the U.S. jobs report for June and a highly anticipated Greek referendum over the weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite index each rose moderately, bolstered by gains in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) while the S&P 500 moved higher one session after ending a quarter in negative territory for the first time in more than two years. While the Dow gained 138.40 or 0.79% in Wednesday's session, it still remained in negative territory for the year at 17,757.91. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, rose 26.25 or 0.53% to 5,013.12, while the S&P 500 gained 14.31 or 0.69% to 2,077.42, as nine of 10 sectors closed in the green.
Stocks in the Financials, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors led, each gaining more than 0.8%. Stocks in the energy sector lagged, falling more than 1.4% as WTI crude futures plunged by more than $2.50 a barrel on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, Swiss insurer ACE announced that it agreed to acquire New Jersey-based Chubb Corp (NYSE:CB). for $28.3 billion in the largest-ever deal between two companies in the insurance industry. Shares in Chubb, the eighth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S., surged nearly 27% to 120.82. Chubb ended the session as the top performer on the S&P 500.
The deal had wide-ranging ramifications in the insurance industry as The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), one of Chubb's top competitors, also saw its shares jump in Wednesday's session. Travelers, the second largest writer of commercial property casualty insurance in the U.S., gained 2.64 or 2.73% to 99.30, ending the session as the top performer on the Dow. The worst performer was EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which lost 2.52 or 3.94% to 61.43.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said it has launched an inquiry into potential collusion among a group of major airline carriers to limit seat availability in an effort to keep fares higher. In response, shares in United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL), Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL), American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) and Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) all fell by at least 1.4%. Southwest officials on Wednesday afternoon said it will cooperate fully in answering any questions from the Justice Department.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), which rose 4.40 or 4.46% to 103.07 extending gains from Tuesday's session. One day earlier, shares in Wynn rose amid a turnaround in its Chinese resort in Macau. Last month, VIP gaming revenue in Macau increased 3% while gaming overall at the resort rose by 9%, according to data from Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN). The worst performer was SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), which fell 1.81 or 3.11% to 56.41. For the year, shares in San Disk are down roughly 40%.
On the S&P 500, Chubb finished just ahead of Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) which surged 2.62 or 6.30% to 44.19. The worst performer was Baxter International Inc (NYSE:BAX) after the Deerfield, Illinois-based company spun off its biotech unit on Wednesday. Baxter International ended the session at 38.86, down nearly 45%. Baxter finished just below Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS), which plunged 2.90 or 10.87% to 23.77 after Top Build completed its spin-off of the contracting services company.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1,971 to 1,181 margin.