NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with technology and financial shares driving gains as investors positioned ahead of Nvidia's earnings report scheduled after the market close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 307.65 points, or 0.63 percent, to 49,482.15. The S&P 500 advanced 56.06 points, or 0.81 percent, to 6,946.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 288.4 points, or 1.26 percent, to 23,152.08.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with industrials and real estate posting the largest declines at 0.79 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively. Technology and financials led the advancers, rising 1.79 percent and 1.68 percent.
Nvidia rose 1.41 percent in anticipation of its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release after the bell, alongside results from software firms Salesforce and Snowflake. Nvidia's report arrives amid heightened scrutiny of elevated artificial intelligence capital expenditures by major cloud providers and questions surrounding the sustainability of current tech valuations.
Other technology names outperformed, with Super Micro Computer, AppLovin and Western Digital up 7.93 percent, 7.22 percent and 7.53 percent, respectively.
Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, saw its shares soar more than 35.47 percent after reporting a significant increase in fourth-quarter revenue.
Lowe's declined despite beating Wall Street estimates on earnings and revenue, as the home improvement retailer's forward guidance fell short of analyst expectations.
In policy developments, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday evening, highlighting the strength of the economy while proposing a new government-backed retirement savings account for workers. He reiterated his call to prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, citing concerns over housing affordability. ■
