On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose to new highs for the fifth consecutive trading day at the open on Wednesday.
The rally was fuelled by semiconductor and big technology stocks.
As of 9:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 17.83 points, or 0.05%, at 39,309.80, the S&P 500 was up 14.12 points, or 0.25%, at 5,591.10 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 87.84 points, or 0.48%, at 18,517.13.
At the opening bell, the S&P 500 rose 14.28 points, or 0.26%, to 5,591.26, the Nasdaq Composite added 82.80 points, or 0.45%, to 18,512.09 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.52 points, or 0.05%, to 39,272.45.
Nvidia shares rose 1.3%, while Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and ON Semiconductor rose about 1%.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSMC) U.S.-listed shares rose 2.5% after the company reported second-quarter earnings.
Alphabet and Microsoft shares rose 1% and 0.5%, respectively. Apple rose 1%, hitting an all-time high.
Smart Global Holdings, a technology company with businesses in computing, memory and LED, reported strong quarterly profit and revenue, sending its shares soaring 18%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.28% from 4.30% late Tuesday. The yield on the two-year note fell slightly to 4.61% from 4.62%.
crude oil
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell last week.
Brent crude futures rose 66 cents, or 0.78%, to $85.32 a barrel as of 11:18 a.m. EDT (1:19 p.m. GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 86 cents, or 1.06%, to $82.27 a barrel.
Gold Bar
Gold prices rose on Wednesday after comments from Jerome Powell stoked hopes that the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates soon.
Spot gold was up 0.7% at $2,380.44 an ounce as of 1424 GMT. U.S. gold futures were up 0.8% at $2,387.10.
