NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow returning to positive territory for the year as surging biotech shares helped the market shrug off weak earnings reports and soft retail data.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 91.26 points or 0.55 percent, to end unofficially at 16,651.80. The S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 12.97 points or 0.67 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,946.72. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 44.88 points or 1.02 percent, to close unofficially at 4,434.13.
(Reporting by Akane Otani; Editing by Jan Paschal)
