US stocks continue post-Brexit recovery with third day of gains

US stocks closed higher on the last day of the quarter, 30 June, for the third-straight day of post-Brexit recovery. The gains marked the best three-day performance for the main stock market indexes since 17 February, Dow Jones data revealed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 235.31 points, or 1.3%, to settle at 17,929.99. A 3% rise in General Electric Co shares led gains in the blue-chips gauge. All constituents except Visa, down 3.35%, finished higher. The Dow advanced nearly 1.4% for the quarter and has recovered around 80% of its post-Brexit losses, CNBC reported.

"We are clawing back from the losses after Brexit as investors realised that it was not the watershed event that they thought it was," James Abate, chief investment officer at Centre Asset Management LLC, told MarketWatch.

The S&P 500 rose 28.09 points, or 1.4%, to end at 2,098.86. According to MarketWatch, a 2.2% jump in consumer-staples led all 10 of the index's sectors higher. The S&P jumped 1.9% for its third-straight quarter of gains.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 63.43 points, or 1.3%, to close at 4,842.67. The tech-heavy index dropped 0.6% for the quarter for its second-straight quarterly decline. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) dropped 1.3% for the quarter.

"The market is breathing a big sigh of relief that Brexit didn't trigger the end of the world," Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital, told CNBC. However, the gain-streak may break on 1 July ahead of the 4 of July holiday weekend, noted MarketWatch.

"We got back everything we lost [after Brexit] and with the weekend coming up, investors are getting nervous," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading. "Get ready for continued volatility."

Markets also rallied after reports the European Central Bank is considering changes to its bond-buying programme. Bloomberg News reported the European Central Bank (ECB) was weighing rule changes regarding the types of bond it can purchase as part of its stimulus package over concerns it could run out of securities to buy under current rules. The report followed remarks from Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney that the central bank is poised to continue easing monetary policy.

Overseas, European markets closed higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher. In Europe, the FTSE 100 rose 2.27% and the German DAX climbed 0.71%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.8%.

The pound sterling fell down once again towards 30-year lows seen the previous week following the EU referendum vote. Pound sterling traded off session lows, near $1.33. The US dollar index traded slightly higher, with the euro by $1.11 and the yen near 103.3 yen against the greenback.

Treasury yields were down, with the 10-year yield near 1.48% and the 2-year yield around 0.59%. Gold futures for August delivery settled down $6.30 (£4.74;€5.68), or 0.5% at $1,320.60 (£994.39;€1189.94) per ounce. US crude oil dropped 3.1% to $48.33 (£36.39;€43.55) a barrel.