NEW YORK – U.S. stocks closed in positive territory on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the gains, as a surge in Apple shares and a series of upbeat corporate earnings reports bolstered investor confidence.
The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) climbed 252.87 points, or 1.21%, to finish at 21,169.42. The S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 45.87 points, or 0.73%, to 6,345.06, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 81.38 points, or 0.18%, to 44,193.12.
The day’s biggest catalyst was Apple (AAPL.O), whose shares jumped 5.1% after a White House official confirmed the tech giant plans to announce a $100 billion domestic manufacturing pledge. The news provided the most significant boost to all three major indexes.
The rally was further supported by a strong second-quarter earnings season. “Earnings continue to come in better than expected,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. According to LSEG data from roughly 400 S&P 500 companies, approximately 80% have beaten analyst expectations. The estimated earnings growth for the quarter has been revised up to 12.1% from an initial forecast of 5.8% at the start of July.
Among the standout performers, McDonald’s (MCD.N) rose 3% after its affordable menu options drove global sales beyond expectations. Cloud networking firm Arista Networks (ANET.N) saw its shares soar 17.5% after projecting current-quarter revenue that surpassed estimates.
Adding to the positive sentiment were growing expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari suggested Wednesday that the central bank may need to lower rates in the near term to account for a slowing economy. Following last week’s softer jobs report, the market is now pricing in a 95.2% probability of at least a 25-basis-point rate cut in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Despite the broad gains, some notable companies bucked the trend. Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) fell 6.4% and server manufacturer Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O) plummeted 18.3% after both reported disappointing results in their data center segments. Walt Disney (DIS.N) shares also slipped 2.7%, even after the company delivered a strong quarter and raised its full-year outlook.
Investors appeared to shrug off geopolitical news, including President Donald Trump’s imposition of an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods in response to New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil.
Overall market volume was 16.85 billion shares, slightly below the 20-day average of 18.27 billion.
