US Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Open On Positive Note; Dow Trades Flat

The benchmark US equity indices started on a higher note on Wednesday, with the brief pause in the six-month stock rally from the brink of a bear market swiftly met with renewed buying.

The S&P 500 edged higher on Wednesday, holding near record levels. The demand has fuelled a 35% rebound from this year's tariff-driven selloff, with periodic calls for consolidation only leading to short-lived breaks, reinforcing confidence that the bull market is far from over.

"With price-to-earnings ratios for today’s tech giants still well below those of the tech firms at the peak of the dotcom bubble, we think the bull market remains intact," said UBS Global Wealth Management's Mark Haefele to news agency Bloomberg.

As of 09:45 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 0.41% higher, the S&P 500 was also up 0.58% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced to 0.88%.

Only three of the 11 sectoral indices was trading in the red. Energy discretionary sector led the decline, while the information technology sector led the advancing sectors.

US tech stocks traded mostly higher as of 9:30 p.m., with chipmakers leading the gains. AMD surged 5.38% to $222.88, emerging as the top performer after hitting an intraday high of $224.99, while NVIDIA advanced 1.47% to $187.76 as investor optimism around AI-linked demand continued to drive sentiment.

Tesla added 0.33% to $434.50, recovering from early lows, and PayPal climbed 1.43% to $75.68. Oracle rose 0.81%, while Palantir and Rigetti Computing gained 0.73% and 1.12%, respectively. The broader semiconductor rally also lifted Intel, which traded higher in line with the sector's strength, as investors rotated back into growth and AI-related names.

Spot gold traded volatile around $4,045 per ounce, swinging between $3,980 and $4,050. Crude oil prices gained, with the West Texas trading 1.78% higher at $62.83 per barrel.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose 0.42% to 98.99, with the British Pound down 0.31% at 1.3385 euros and the Japanese yen up 0.55% to 152.74 per dollar. Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency advanced to $122,252.76.

Minutes after the market opened, the S&P 500 was up 0.15% or 10 points at 6,724.61, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index opened 0.39% or 88 points higher at 22,876.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, bucked the trend to open flat at 46,600.85.