The Dow Jones industrial average rose 121 points in Wednesday trading to close at 18,163.

The S&P 500 rose 19 points to 2,123.

The Nasdaq rose 74 points to 5,107.

The LABJ Stock Index rose two points to 234.

Gainers and Losers

Wednesday’s biggest gainer was agricultural biotech Ceres Inc. Shares rose 74 percent on the day, closing at $2.93, after the Thousand Oaks company announced it has been awarded a patent for a soybean genetic sequence, which could be licensed to commercial seed developers.

Wednesday’s biggest loser was Carson online parts retailer U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc. Shares fell 8 percent on the day, closing at $2.40. Mehran Nia, the company’s co-founder and former chief executive, said the retailer is undervalued and recommended earlier this month that executives put the company up for sale.