Tech rally lifts S&P 500, Nasdaq to record highs; Powell comments in Focus

Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting record highs on gains in technology stocks, as investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

US private payrolls rose at a moderate pace in November, with private payrolls increasing by 146,000 jobs after advancing by a downwardly revised 184,000 in October, the ADP National Employment Report showed.

“The distortions in the economy and the correlation between ADP and the nonfarm payrolls print have created a lot of noise for the jobs numbers, which are really important for the outlook and Fed policy,” said portfolio head Zachary Hill. Management at Horizon Investments.

“I really don’t think markets will focus on today’s ADP report.”

The data comes ahead of a renewed November monthly employment report expected on Friday.

Separately, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed non-manufacturing activity was 52.1 last month, while the final reading of the S&P services survey was revised down to 56.1.

At 10:03 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 211.99 points, or 0.47%, at 44,917.52, the S&P 500 was up 16.50 points, or 0.27%, at 6,066.38 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1663 points, or 1633 points. 0.68%, to 19,613.57.

The CBOE Market Volatility Index, Wall Street’s gauge of fear, briefly dipped below 13 points for the first time since July 2024.

Salesforce provided the biggest boost to blue-chip stocks, jumping 8.5% after the enterprise cloud company beat Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast.

Information technology stocks hit record highs on the back of a surge in megacaps like Microsoft and Nvidia.

Marvell Technology advanced 21.2% after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue that beat analyst estimates, while the broader semiconductor index was up 1%.

The market’s focus remains on Powell’s comments later in the day, when the central bank’s benchmark book, its US Economic Activity Survey report, is due to be released at 2:00 pm ET.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Mussalman joined other Fed officials in speaking on the day this week.

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Support for further interest-rate cuts, but no one has pushed strongly for or against another cut at the next Fed meeting in two weeks.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs on Tuesday, as tech-related stocks continued to rise during a tumultuous session.

US stocks rallied in November after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 election and his Republican Party swept both houses of Congress.

Dollar Tree rose 1.5% after the discount store operator beat third-quarter sales estimates, while drugmaker Eli Lilly rose 1.4% after its weight-loss drug Zapbound topped rival Wegovi in ​​a head-to-head study.

Leading issues declined by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite hit 83 new highs and 49 new lows.