WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending yesterday's choppy trading session mostly higher, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Wednesday. While buying interest was somewhat subdued, the S&P 500 managed to reach a new record closing high.
The major averages all posted modest gains on the day. The Dow rose 147.16 points or 0.3 percent to 45,565.23, the Nasdaq edged up 45.87 points or 0.2 percent at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 crept up 15.46 points or 0.2 percent to 6,481.40.
The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly-anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA).
Nvidia, which is scheduled to release its second quarter results after the close of today's trading, dipped by 0.1 percent on the day.
However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of Nvidia's results, with a lack of major U.S. economic data also keeping some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of a closely watched report later in the week.
On Friday, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
The report, which is expected to show an uptick in the annual rate of core consumer price growth to 2.9 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.
Sector News
Energy stocks turned in a strong performance on the day amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumping by 2.1 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index climbing by 1.7 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Software and telecom stocks also saw some strength on the day, while brokerage stocks moved to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.8 percent.
The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped by 2.0 basis points to 4.238 percent.
Looking Ahead
While reaction to Nvidia's earnings is likely to drive trading on Thursday, reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales may also attract attention along with a revised reading on second quarter GDP.
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