Wall Street edges higher after U.S. Treasury doubles bond buybacks

The Dow Jones industrial average, the broad-based S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index all rose 0.2 percent.

This comes after the Ministry of Finance clarified that repurchases of long-term bonds will be doubled. The buybacks, which begin on September 9, are intended to increase liquidity in the market.

Long-term market interest rates - which have risen sharply recently - fell after the announcement.

However, Lawrence Gillum, chief strategist at financial advisory firm LPL Financial, points out that the structural problems in the economy remain.

This is more of a band-aid than a universal solution, he says.

After a positive medical study against skin cancer, pharmaceutical company Moderna soared 177 percent during the day.