NEW YORK - Stocks closed higher on Wall Street, keeping the market on track for a fourth straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Wednesday, the Dow added 184 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%. Nvidia fell even after reporting blowout profits. The stock has more than tripled this year amid rapid growth in demand for its chips in artificial intelligence applications. Crude oil prices closed lower after OPEC postponed a meeting to discuss production cuts to next week. Trading was muted ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. U.S. markets will be open for half a day on Friday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
Stocks rose on Wall Street Wednesday, led by big gains in travel-related companies as energy prices drop.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and remains on track for a modest gain in a holiday-shortened week ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. The benchmark index is coming off three straight winning weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175 points, or 0.5% to 35,263 and the Nasdaq rose 0.5% as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern.
Crude oil prices fell 0.9% after OPEC said it would postpone its latest conference to next week. The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts.
The drop in oil prices weighed on energy companies. The sector slipped 0.3%. Energy giant Exxon Mobil fell 0.6% and oilfield services company Halliburton was 1% lower.
The sharp slide for oil prices helped airlines and other companies that stand to benefit from lower fuel costs. United Airlines rose 1.2% and cruise line Carnival rose 1.8%,
Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury held steady at 4.89%.
Stocks in Asia and Europe ended mostly mixed. Trading tapered off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan, with few data releases to give markets direction. Markets will be closed in the U.S. on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.
Wall Street remained relatively quiet ahead of the long holiday weekend in the U.S.
slipped 0.7% after announcing that it expects to complete its $69 billion deal to acquire VMWare on Wednesday after clearing all regulatory hurdles.
The latest round of corporate earnings is coming to a close and several well-known retailers reported their latest financial results. Department store operator Nordstrom fell 5.1% after trimming its profit forecast for the year. Clothing retailer Guess slumped 11% after cutting its financial forecast.
Tractor maker Deere, a bellwether for the agricultural industry, fell 3.2% after giving Wall Street a discouraging financial forecast and industry outlook.
Chipmaking giant Nvidia fell 2.2%, despite handily beating analysts' profit and revenue forecasts. The company and the sector continue to face pressure because of export restrictions to China.
A consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan showed that confidence remains strong. Wall Street has been closely watching consumer spending and confidence reports for more clues on the economy's path ahead.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real sense out there that we鈥檙e making progress,鈥 said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. 鈥淪lowing, but growing is what the economy is doing."
Forecasts for a potential recession have been pushed further out into 2024 while also being softened. The rate of inflation continues to ease, consumer spending remains solid and the economy is generally humming along. That has encouraged hopes, and bets, that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and could soon consider cutting rates.
Fed officials, though, have said the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and they'll make upcoming decisions on rates based on incoming reports. The Fed will get another big update next week when the government releases its October report for a key inflation measure tracked by the central bank.
