Stock market near session highs in record territory Wednesday midday as Biden emphasizes unity in inaugural address

U.S. stocks on Wednesday midday were trading at or near their best levels of the session as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the U.S. and Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president, the first woman to hold that role. “I will be a president for all Americans,” Biden said in his inaugural address. “And I promise that I will fight as hard for those who did not support me,” as for those who did, he said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.67%
was trading up 215 points, or 0.7%, at 31,147, in record territory. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
+1.22%
was up 1.2% at near a record at 3,844, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+1.74%
surged 1.8% at 13,428, trading near its all-time peak. Biden’s presidency comes amid a historic pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 U.S. lives.