Wednesday

Stocks posted modest gains today as investors found comfort in the European banking sector, offsetting mixed signals on the domestic economy from the White House and Federal Reserve. Financial stocks were the best performing sector after encouraging developments in Europe's banking sector helped clear a source of uncertainty for the markets. The good financial reports out of Europe helped offset the Fed's "beige book" report on economic activity throughout the country, which pointed to widespread signs of slowing across the country. DJIA +46.32 Nasdaq +19.98 S&P 500 +7.03.