Investing.com -- Stocks on the U.S. equities markets moved broadly higher on Wednesday, as investors awaited the release of a host of critical earnings reports after the bell.
Led by strong gains in the Technology sector, the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 came within points of reaching a record-high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also approached an all-time record, in spite of being tamped down by subpar earnings from several components.
The Dow still gained 75.27 or 0.42% to close at 18,024.86, roughly 200 points or 1.5% below its all-time high. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, rose 18.35 or 0.37% to 5,032.45, slightly under its record high of 5,048.62 from March, 2000.
On the S&P 500 all 10 sectors closed higher, as it gained 9.22 or 0.44% to 2,106.51. The S&P 500 is less than 0.8% below its record-high of 2,117.39.
Tech stocks remained in focus on Wednesday, as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) were all scheduled to report earnings for the first quarter after the close. Facebook, which is expected to post advertising revenue of $3.2 billion for the first quarterly, gained 1.01 or 1.21% to close at 84.63, near an all-time high. AT&T, which has come under pressure from stronger price competition in recent weeks, also rose 0.20 or 0.61% to 32.86. Ebay and Qualcomm were also fractionally higher.
The top performer on the Dow was Visa Inc . (NYSE:V), which gained 2.73 or 4.18% to 68.08. The worst performer was Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), which fell 2.14 or 1.40% to 151.19, amid worse than expected earnings.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), which rose 2.21 or 5.03% to 46.19 after posting strong quarterly earnings on Tuesday after the close. The worst performer was Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), which fell 29.20 or 5.34% to 517.53.
Nearly 10 stocks on the S&P 500 reached a 52-week high, where FMC Technologies Inc (NYSE:FTI) finished as the top performer after gaining 2.80 or 7.42% to 40.53. The worst performer was Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE:CMG), which dropped 50.80 or 7.34% to 641.72 after the multinational restaurant chain announced lower than expected same-store sales on Tuesday after the bell.