Stock market live Wednesday: Dow jumps more than 400, tech rebounds, Tesla gains 10% after worst day ever

• Advancing stocks outpaced declining stocks 2,248 to 783, or almost 3 to 1, on the NYSE
• S&P 500 closed up 2.01% for its first positive day in four and its best day since June 5 when the S&P gained 2.62%
• S&P 500 is up 5.21% this year 
• S&P is 5.27% below its intraday all-time high of 3,588.11 from Sept. 2 
• S&P is 5.08% below its record close of 3,580.84 from Sept. 2
• Nasdaq Composite closed up 2.71% for its first positive day in four and its best day since April 29 when the Nasdaq gained 3.57%
• Nasdaq is up 24.17% this year  
• Nasdaq is 7.72% below its intraday all-time high of 12,074.07 from Sept. 2 
• Nasdaq is 7.59% below its closing record of 12,056.44 from Sept. 2 
• Dow closed up 1.6% for its first positive day in four and its best day since July 14 when the Dow gained 2.13%
• Dow is down 2.1% this year
• Dow is 5.51% below its intraday all-time high of 29,568.57 from Feb. 12 
• Dow is 5.45% below its closing record of 29,551.42 from Feb. 12 
• Eleven out of 11 sectors were positive Wednesday led by tech, which gained 3.35% for its best day since April 29 when tech gained 4.22%. — Gina Francolla, Yun Li

Shares of Tesla jumped again in the final 10 minutes of the session, bringing the stock to a 10.9% gain on Wednesday. The rally comes after the stock's worst daily performance ever on Tuesday, when shares fell by 21%. — Jesse Pound

Stocks spent all of Wednesday's session in the green as investors came back into the market following a steep sell-off. The Dow rose 439 points for a gain of 1.6%. The S&P 500 advanced 2.02%, while the Nasdaq Composite was the relative outperformer after gaining 2.7%. Tech was the day's top-performing sector, advancing 3.35%. - Pippa Stevens

Bytedance is discussing with the U.S. government ways to avoid a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The Trump administration has ordered TikTok to be shutdown in the U.S. if its American unit is not sold. Shares of Microsoft and Walmart, two companies that have been involved in deal discussions, fell slightly following the report but remained higher for the day. — Jesse Pound

With less than an hour left in the trading session, the major averages were trading at their highs of the day, riding on the coattails of a sharp tech rally. The Dow traded 676 points higher, or 2.5%. The S&P 500 was up 2.7%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.1%. —Fred Imbert

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, but they've been under pressure in recent sessions as demand concerns continue to weigh. But Citi believes crude will continue to move higher in the near future. "The crude oil sell-off should be ending soon – even though prices might not yet have hit bottom," the firm's strategists led by Ed Morse said in a note to clients Wednesday. In the third quarter, Citi sees Brent averaging $43, with West Texas Intermediate at $41. On Wednesday WTI advanced 3.51% to settle at $38.05, while Brent rose 2.54% to $40.79. - Pippa Stevens

Despite major moves from high profile growth stocks last month, value factors outperformed growth and the broader market in August and are poised to continue to do so, Bank of America said in a new note. 

"In August, Value group of factors (+4.4% on avg.) outperformed the index and Growth group (+3.9%). We see multiple reasons for Value to continue outperformance: continuing economic recovery, bottoming profits growth in 2Q20, extreme neglect by active managers, record lows valuations, and valuation dispersion is near record highs," the note said. 

An extended rotation into value, whether from positive vaccine news or a general risk-off shift by investors, could have a mixed impact on the S&P 500 because of the index's concentration in growth stocks, the note said. — Jesse Pound

Shares of Nikola slid more than 14% on Wednesday, giving back some of Tuesday's 40.79% gain. The previous session's jump came on the heels of an announcement that GM was taking an 11% stake in the company. The legacy auto maker will manufacture Nikola's Badger electric pickup truck. - Pippa Stevens

New York City restaurants will be allowed to resume indoor dining areas at 25% capacity beginning Sept. 30, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday. "We have seen clusters outbreak from restaurants, so that was the reason for caution," Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany. "We've been working on this issue everyday and we're now announcing today that we can go to 25% of indoor dining with certain restrictions that will be enacted on September 30." Restaurants have been some of the hardest hit during the coronavirus pandemic. The establishments will be required to take customers' temperatures at the door, enforce mask wearing and social distancing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was around its session high, up 650 points, following Cuomo's press conference. — Maggie Fitzgerald 

Small caps saw a smaller rebound than the larger stocks on Wednesday, with the Russell 2000 rising 1.3%. The S&P 500 ticked up 2.6% on Wednesday.  That continued a streak of smaller moves for the small cap index, which dropped less than the S&P 500 did in each of the three previous sessions. — Jesse Pound

The boom in the SPAC market continues to rise as funds raised via blank-check deals exceeded traditional IPOs for two months straight. Total proceeds from special purpose acquisition companies raised $10 billion in August after a record of $10.5 billion in July, compared to a total of $17 billion funding from traditional initial listings for the past two months, according to data from Refinitiv. There has been a historic $33 billion funding raised via a total of 86 SPACs this year alone, a more than 260% jump from the same period a year ago, the data said.

A SPAC is formed to raise funds to finance a merger or acquisition within two years typically. The target firm will be taken public through the acquisition. Some of Wall Street's most high-profile investors including hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and Oakland A's executive Billy Beane have launched their own blank-check companies this year, bringing more hype to this booming IPO alternative vehicle. — Yun Li

The major averages were sharply higher on Wednesday as tech stocks clawed back some of their steep declines from the previous three sessions. The Dow traded 532 points higher, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 gained 2.2% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.8%. —Fred Imbert

SoftBank shareholders are pushing the Japanese conglomerate to disclose more information about its recent aggressive equity options trading, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. SoftBank was identified by the FT and other outlets as the "Nasdaq whale" who piled on billions of dollars in call options, betting on stocks rising. Shares of Softbanks have wiped out over $12 billion in market value this week. — Yun Li

Slack — Shares of Slack tanked 14% after its quarter results showed steady growth instead of an expected boost from the coronavirus.

Tesla – Shares of the electric auto maker jumped about 5% as the stock sought to claw back some of its recent losses. The stock tanked 21% to suffer its worst day ever in the previous session.

United Airlines – Shares of United Airlines fell 4% after the carrier cut its third-quarter scheduled capacity forecast as well as passenger revenue. United also said in continues to expect average daily cash burn during the third quarter to be about $25 million per day.

Qorvo — Shares of the chipmaker jumped more than 8% after the company raised its guidance for its fiscal second quarter, citing strong demand for its mobile products.

Check out more companies making headlines during midday trading Tuesday. — Yun Li 

Shares of AstraZeneca came way off their lows of the day when the Financial Times reported the drugmaker might resume trails of its coronavirus vaccine next week. Shares were under pressure after the company said a late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate has been put on hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the U.K. — Maggie Fitzgerald 

Shares of American Airlines were down more than 4% after CFO Derek Kerr said it was too soon to tell if a recent uptick in demand was sustainable. He also said the company may seek a larger federal loan from the Treasury Department and added American was in talks to defer 18 Boeing 737 Max jets. Boeing shares were down nearly 2%. —Fred Imbert

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he is unsure if there will be a second Covid-19 relief bill to support ailing Americans. When asked about the chances of a bill this year Mnuchin said: "I don't know. We'll see. I hope there is. It's important to a lot of people out there."  Mnuchin said he last spoke to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week and that he spoke to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on Tuesday. —Maggie Fitzgerald 

Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital, said in a blog post he is a seller of Wednesday's rally since the bottom from the recent tech-driven sell-off is not in.

"I can easily see a two or three-day rally that wipes out Tuesday's decline. My bigger concern is if we get this rally and then the Fab Five Plus start to rollover again," Schatz said.

Shares of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Netflix, Microsoft and Tesla were all higher as they clawed back some of their steep losses from the past week. These are some of the market's best-performing names year to date.

"I don't think the bottom is in. That would mean a further decline that could set off some trap door selling with that big whoosh on the downside. If we do get this rally, there may be an opportunity to do some pruning to reduce overall exposure," wrote Schatz. —Fred Imbert

• BMO upgraded Sherwin Williams to outperform from market perform.
• Credit Suisse reinstated Virgin Galactic as outperform.
• Evercore ISI initiated DraftKings as outperform.
• Deutsche Bank initiated Stitch Fix as buy.
• Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Peloton to $110 from $96.

Pro Subscribers can read more here. - Michael Bloom

Major equity benchmarks were higher out of the gate on Wednesday as Wall Street attempts to bounce back from a steep tech-led sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.9% after dropping 10% in the past three sessions, dipping into correction territory. Tesla jumped 7% following its worst one-day decline ever. Apple also gained more than 4% at the open. — Yun Li

Longtime hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller thinks investors should be careful moving forward as the market is currently in a mania fueled by the Federal Reserve and speculation. 

"Everybody loves a party ... but, inevitably, after a big party there's a hangover," Druckenmiller, CEO of the Duquesne Family Office, told CNBC's "Squawk Box." on Wednesday. "Right now, we're in an absolute raging mania. We've got commentators encouraging companies to do stock splits. Companies then go up 50%, 30%, 40% on stock splits. That brings no value, but the stocks go up."

The S&P 500 has rallied more than 51% since hitting an intraday low on March 23. The broader market index hit an all-time high last week before a sell-off in tech shares knocked it below that level. 

"I have no clue where the market is gonna go in the near term. I don't know whether it's going to go up 10%; I don't know whether it's going to go down 10%," Druckenmiller said. "But I would say the next three-to-five years are going to be very, very challenging." —Fred Imbert

Louis Vuitton owner LVMH is backing out of its $16.2 billion acquisition of Tiffany, citing the threat of U.S. tariffs on French goods and Tiffany's request to extend the deal deadline to the end of the year. The merger agreement signed in November 2019 asked for a closing deadline no later than Nov. 20, 2020, but Tiffany had requested to extend the date to Dec. 31. Meanwhile, the French minister of foreign affairs had directed LVMH to defer the deal until after Jan. 6, 2021, because of a U.S. threat of higher taxes. Tiffany countered with a lawsuit seeking to enforce the merger agreement. — Yun Li 

AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday night that it was pausing the phase three trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate due to health concerns. STAT News reported that a patient in the United Kingdom suffered a "serious adverse reaction" to the drug. 

The company said in a statement that the move was a "routine action" when a health concern arises during a trial. The company's shares were down 2% in premarket trading. — Jesse Pound, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. 

Lululemon beat top and bottom line estimates during the second quarter, but shares were more than 4% lower during premarket trading on Wednesday following weak guidance. The sports apparel retailer predicted an adjusted profit decline of up to 20% for the current quarter thanks to a jump in marketing expenses.

For the second quarter the company earned 74 cents per share on an adjusted basis, compared with the 55-cent profit expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $902.9 million, ahead of the expected $842.5 million. During the second quarter online sales jumped 157%. - Pippa Stevens

DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach raised a red flag on the massive buying frenzy among retail investors this year, calling it "downright terrifying." "This is a terrible sign for the condition of the market for anybody who's experienced a significant number of cycles, which I've definitely experienced," Gundlach said during an investor webcast on Tuesday.

The so-called bond king also made a slew of market calls Tuesday, including the current sell-off in tech, the dollar and gold. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Yun Li

Slack dropped more than 17% during premarket trading on Wednesday after the company's second quarter results showed no spike in growth amid the pandemic. The messaging company broke even for the quarter on an adjusted basis, which was better than the 3-cent loss expected by analysts, while revenue came in at $215.9 million, which was also ahead of expectations.  

Revenue growth in the quarter, which ended on July 31, came in below 50% on an annualized basis, in line with the two previous quarters. That's a disappointment compared with video-calling software company Zoom, which showed 355% growth during the coronavirus pandemic. - Jordan Novet, Pippa Stevens

Shares of Tesla gained more than 5% in premarket Wednesday, making back some of the losses from its worst day in history. The electric-vehicle maker plunged 21% in the previous session, suffering its biggest one-day drop in its history. The sell-off came after Tesla was snubbed for inclusion in the S&P 500, a disappointment for investors who had anticipated its addition.— Yun Li

Futures tied to major U.S. equity benchmarks climbed Wednesday morning, following a massive tech-led sell-off that drove the Nasdaq Composite down 10% in just three sessions. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, while Dow futures indicated an opening gain of about 100 points. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3% as some of the biggest losers in the past few days— Apple, Tesla, Microsoft and Amazon — bounced back in premarket trading. — Yun Li