Stocks finished higher Wednesday as tech stocks climbed and Wall Street awaited the release of important inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Avenue finished up 0.45% to 37,695, while the S&P 500 gained 0.57%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.75%.
In company news, shares of Lennar (LEN) -) gained 3.5% after the homebuilding company announced an increase to its annual dividend after the market closed on Tuesday.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -) surged 10.3% after the robotic surgery company increased its procedure growth outlook for fiscal year 2024.
The company said it expects fourth quarter 2023 revenue of roughly $1.93 billion, beating Wall Street's estimate for $1.89 billion, according to FactSetup 17% from the year earlier total of $1.66 billion.
Intuitive Surgical expects 2023 revenue of roughly $7.12 billion, up 14% from $6.22 billion a year earlier.
Investors are awaiting the latest consumer price index report that is scheduled to be released on Thursday.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect CPI rose 3.2% year over year in December.
Updated at 1:56 PM EST
All chips in
Stocks are holding gains following another solid coupon bond auction from the Treasury, which drew $94.72 billion in total bids for the $37 billion in new 10-year notes on offer, with foreign investors increasing their take of the same from last month to around 66.1%.
The S&P 500 was last marked 17 points higher, or 0.37%, while the Dow gained 75 points and the Nasdaq 90 points, or 0.6%.
Benchmark 10-year notes yields edged higher, to 4.035%, from the auction sale level of 4.024%.
Updated at 10:36 AM EST
All chips in
Nvidia shares extended their best winning streak since last May's blowout second quarter earnings, rising to a fresh record high of $534.66 each, following an upbeat revenue report from Taiwan Semiconductor and robust demand signals from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Related: Nvidia extends record run as robust AI chip demand offsets China concern
Updated at 9:40 AM EST
Steady Start
The S&P 500 is looking to claw back yesterday's decline in early trading, with the broadest measure of U.S. bluechip stocks rising 9 points, or 0.2% in the opening half hour of trading.
The Dow, meanwhile, is marked around 93 points into the green, with the Nasdaq up 50 points, or 0.33%.
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended mixed Tuesday, with another solid session for the so-called Magnificent 7 tech stocks driving the Nasdaq to a modest 0.1% gain while the S&P 500 slipped 0.15%. Markets ignored a pullback in Treasury yields and a bullish end-of-year survey from the National Federation of Independent Business.
A solid auction of $52 billion in new 3-year Treasury notes drew a big increase in overall bidders as well as foreign buyers. The sale helped the overall market hold recent gains heading into today's $37 billion 10-year sale.
Benchmark 10-year notes were last seen trading at 3.984% heading into the start of the New York session, while 2-year notes slipped to 3.434%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.14% lower at 102.245.
Bitcoin prices were also active and remain so into the Wednesday session, following the hacking of a Securities and Exchange Commission social-media account that displayed false information regarding the approval of an ETF related to the world's biggest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin was last marked 1% lower at $45,672.30, having risen past $47,000 following the unauthorized message on the X social-media website.
The SEC is expected to make a decision later today on the first of dozens of applications linked to ETFs that would hold bitcoin directly.
Markets remain focused on Thursday's December CPI report, however, with analysts looking for headline price pressure to tick modestly higher, to 3.2% on the year and 0.2% on the month. The focus highlights the Federal Reserve's last-mile challenge to return inflation to its 2% target.
The VIX index, the market's key volatility benchmark, was marked 2.5% lower at $12.75 in the overnight session. That level suggests traders expect daily price moves on the S&P 500 of around 0.79%, or 37.6 points, over the next 30 days.
Heading into the start of trading on Wall Street, futures tied to the S&P 500 are set for a 2-point opening-bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are indicating a 30-point dip.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is priced for a 45-point bump, thanks in part to another solid premarket session for chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) -).
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marked 0.04% higher in early Frankfurt trading, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.24% in London.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 hit a fresh 34-year high of 34,441.72 points after rising 2.01% on the session as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar and tech stocks followed last night's higher close on Wall Street.
- Action Alerts PLUS offers expert portfolio guidance to help you make informed investing decisions. Sign up now.