WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen during Tuesday's session, the major U.S. stock indexes once again moved in opposite directions during trading on Wednesday.
While the Dow climbed to a near record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed another moderate move to the downside.
The Nasdaq fell 61.84 points or 0.3 percent to 23,406.46, but the S&P 500 inched up 4.31 points or 0.1 percent to 6,850.92 and the Dow climbed 326.86 points or 0.7 percent to 48,254,82.
The continued advance by the Dow came amid strong gains by UnitedHealth (UNH), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Meanwhile, continued decline by the tech-heavy Nasdaq may have reflected lingering valuation concerns despite a surge by shares of Advanced Micro Devices.
AMD spiked by 9.0 percent after CEO Lisa Su predicted the chipmaker's annual revenue growth will average more than 35 percent over the next three to five years.
Su also said that AMD could be able to achieve 'double-digit' share in the data center AI chip market that is currently dominated by Nvidia (NVDA).
Meanwhile, traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, where the House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
After the Senate voted Monday to approve the bill extending funding for most agencies until January 30th, the House is set to vote on the legislation later this evening.
Sector News
Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging by 3.7 percent.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Steel, pharmaceutical and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while energy stocks plunged amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.
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 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index surged by 1.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved notably higher following the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 5.5 basis points to 4.065 percent.
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