Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Wednesday, putting major indexes on track to extend their weekly gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq added 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6%. Big communications and technology companies helped lift the broader market. Google’s parent Alphabet rose 7.5% after it said its digital ad business propelled a 36% jump in profit last quarter. Major indexes are on track for solid gains this week, a welcome turnaround from January’s losses, the AP reports. The S&P 500 rose 42.84 points to 4,589.38. The Dow rose 224.09 points to 35,629.33. The Nasdaq rose 71.54 points to 14,417.55. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is used to set interest rates on mortgages, fell to 1.77%.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices rose 5.2% after it reported surprisingly strong fourth-quarter financial results and gave investors an encouraging sales forecast. Energy stocks fell and tempered gains elsewhere in the market. Oil prices were mostly stable following news that oil cartel OPEC and allied producing countries are sticking with cautious increases in production. After reporting a weak quarter and subdued guidance, PayPal slumped 24.6% in its worst trading day since it split from eBay in 2015. Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, saw its stock plunge 22.6% in after-hours trading Wednesday after reporting a rare decline in its fourth quarter profit due to a sharp increase in expenses, per the AP.
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