Stocks rose on Wall Street Wednesday, as news leaked about the results of so-called stress tests that examined the strength of major U.S. financial institutions and convinced investors that no big collapses were on the way. The official results of the stress tests conducted on 19 major U.S. banks and financial companies will not be announced until Thursday afternoon, but several reports have already detailed parts of the conclusions. Three banks – American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon – are all strong enough to proceed without raising any additional capital, according to a report by the Associated Press. Three other major banks – Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo – will all be required to raise billions of dollars in additional funds, according to news sources. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 101.63, or 1.2 percent, to 8,512.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.73, or 1.7 percent, to 919.53. The Nasdaq composite index rose 4.98, or 0.3 percent, to 1,759.10. The New York Stock Exchange composite rose 119.79 to 5,890.55, while the American Stock Exchange composite closed up 35.57 at 1,468.38. The Russell 2000 also ended the day higher, rising 2.54 to close at 505.09. The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude oil for June delivery rose $2.50 to $56.24.
