US stocks surge in early trading; Dow crosses 21,000 points

Banks and other financial companies led U.S. stocks sharply higher in morning trading Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average above 21,000 points for the first time.

Energy and materials companies were also among the big gainers, while utilities and real estate stocks lagged.

In his speech, Trump struck a less confrontational tone than usual and steered away from dramatically negative descriptions of the state of the U.S. economy.

The promises have helped send U.S. stock benchmarks to records, but Trump offered little by way of detail.

Investors bid up bank shares in anticipation that interest rates will rise.

Lowe's climbed 9.1 percent after the home-improvement retailer's latest quarterly earnings and outlook beat Wall Street's forecasts.

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises sank 39.3 percent after the energy sector supply company's latest quarterly report card and guidance fell short of financial analysts' expectations.

Best Buy fell 4.8 percent after the consumer electronics chain reported weak sales and issued an outlook that failed to impress financial analysts.

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