WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset the steep losses posted on Monday.
The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 288.40 points or 1.3 percent to 23,152.08, the S&P 500 climbed 56.06 points or 0.8 percent to 6,946.13 and the Dow rose 307.65 points or 0.6 percent to 49,482.15.
The continued strength on Wall Street partly reflected optimism ahead of the release of earnings news from AI chipmaker and market leader Nvidia (NVDA).
Shares of Nvidia jumped by 1.4 percent ahead of the release of its fourth quarter financial results after the close of today's trading.
Software giants Salesforce (CRM) and Snowflake (SNOW) are also among the companies due to report their quarterly results later in the day.
Tech giant IBM Corp. (IBM) also surged by 3.6 percent, continuing to regain ground following a nosedive on Monday after UBS upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Neutral from Sell.
Shares of Oracle (ORCL) also shot up by 1.2 percent after Oppenheimer upgraded its rating on the software giant's stock to Outperform from Perform.
Sector News
Software stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index spiking by 3.1 percent.
The index continued to regain ground after slumping to its lowest closing level in ten months on Monday amid easing AI disruption concerns.
Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Financial, networking and semiconductor stocks also saw significant strength, while housing stocks moved sharply lower on the day.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.2 percent, while South Korea's Kospi shot up by 1.9 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw modest weakness after ending the previous session roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.5 basis points to 4.048 percent.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Thursday is likely to be driven by reaction Nvidia's earnings news, while a report on weekly jobless claims may also attract attention.
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