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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks opened strongly higher on Wall Street, led by big gains in banks as investors expected interest rates to rise.

The early jump Wednesday put the Dow Jones industrial average above 21,000 points for the first time.

JPMorgan Chase rose 2.6 percent and Goldman Sachs rose 2.1 percent, the biggest increases in the Dow.

Bond prices fell and yields rose after a Federal Reserve official, New York Fed President William Dudley, said the case for raising interest rates had gotten stronger.

The Dow rose 195 points, or 1 percent, to 21,016.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 20 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,384. The Nasdaq composite increased 48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,874.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.45 percent.

Stocks opened strongly higher on Wall Street, led by big gains in banks as investors expected interest rates to rise. The early jump Wednesday put the Dow Jones industrial average above 21,000 points for the first time.
Stocks opened strongly higher on Wall Street, led by big gains in banks as investors expected interest rates to rise. The early jump Wednesday put the Dow Jones industrial average above 21,000 points for the first time. Peter Morgan | AP Photo

Associated Press