Stocks increase broadly powered by technology

Technology companies led a broad rally Wednesday for stocks on Wall Street, pushing the market further into the green for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 1.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% and the techheavy Nasdaq composite rose 2.1%. The indexes started off the day headed higher and never slipped into the red, a change from the market’s recent bout of volatile trading.

More than 85% of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, with technology and communications stocks powering much of the gains. Microsoft rose 2.2%, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.6%.

Bond yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 1.95%. It’s still the highest it’s been since before the pandemic began.

Investors continued to focus on a mixed batch of company earnings reports as they try to gauge how corporate America is dealing with higher inflation and persistent global supply chain disruptions.

Of the roughly 60% of S&P 500 companies that have reported results for the last three months of 2021, about 62% delivered earnings and revenue topping Wall Street’s forecasts, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“Earnings and sales really have come in overall quite nicely relative to expectations at the beginning of this quarter, so that’s a positive force within the market,” said Lisa Erickson, senior market strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 rose 65.64 points to 4,587.18. The benchmark index is now about 4.4% below the all-time high it set Jan. 3.

The Dow gained 305.28 points to 35,768.06, while the Nasdaq rose 295.92 points to 14,490.37. The major stock indexes are all on pace for a weekly gain.

Small company stocks also notched gains. The Russell 2000 rose 38.13 points, or 1.9%, to 2,083.50.

Investors are looking closely at company earnings reports to determine how different industries are dealing with persistent supply chain problems. That is one of the factors pushing inflation higher and making operations more costly for companies while making products more expensive for consumers.

Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped 10.2% after beating analyst’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. The company raised menu prices 4% in December.