Powell “was very upbeat about economy, and he said we’re making progress on inflation… that’s good news for stocks in general,” an economist said.

U.S. stocks remained higher in Wednesday's final hour of trading as investors looked past weaker-than-expected data from the Institute for Supply Management and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks about taking a more cautious approach to lowering rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) climbed 0.6%, or over 200 points, while the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC) added 0.3% on the heels of an all-time closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC) gained around 0.5%.