U.S. stocks rise as Wall Street moves higher for a fourth straight day

U.S. stocks rose for a fourth straight day, led by solid gains for technology companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Wednesday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 314 points, or 0.7%. Nvidia, Microsoft and Broadcom were among the tech stocks that drove the market’s gains.

Financial services companies also fared well. Robinhood posted the biggest gain in the S&P 500, 10.9%, after saying it planned to expand its prediction markets business with the launch of a new exchange. The recent gains for stocks have been helped by rising hopes for another rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

U.S. stocks were broadly higher in afternoon trading Wednesday as Wall Street looks to build on its recent winning streak.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 395 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq added 0.9% as of 2:43 p.m. Eastern time. The major indexes are all on pace for their fourth-straight gain.

The rally was broad, with most of the sectors in the benchmark S&P 500 index moving higher and gainers outnumbering decliners by nearly 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Technology companies accounted for much of the gains. Dell Technologies climbed 6.6% after saying it has received record orders for its artificial intelligence servers. Dell and other technology companies had fallen earlier in the month as investors worried the prices for their stocks had gotten too frothy amid the frenzy over AI. Nvidia, the market’s most valuable company, rose 1.4%.

Among other tech winners was Microsoft, which rose 1.9% and Broadcom, which added 3.4%.

Financial sector stocks also helped lift the market. Robinhood Markets jumped 11.1% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 companies after the trading platform said it plans to roll out a futures and derivatives exchange next year.

Urban Outfitters joined a host of other retailers this week in reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and its shares jumped 13.5%.

Petco surged 15.3% a day after the pet supply chain delivered mixed quarterly results, but raised its fiscal year earnings outlook.

On the downside, shares of Deere dropped 3.9% after the farm equipment company issued a downbeat forecast, citing pressure from tariffs.

Stocks have risen for three straight days as comments from Federal Reserve officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting in December. Traders are betting on a nearly 83% probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed is facing an increasingly difficult decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, but it could also fuel inflation. The latest round of corporate earnings reports was mostly positive, but economic data has been mixed.

The latest economic data shows Americans bought less from U.S. retailers in September than economists expected and are growing more anxious about the economy. The Fed and Wall Street are also playing catch-up with government reports on the economy suspended during the government shutdown.

U.S. markets will have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was flat at 4% and the yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.48%.

In international markets, shares in Europe and Asia advanced. Germany’s DAX gained 1.1% while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.9%. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% in a broad rally that encompassed major exporters and technology shares.