By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks ended higher Wednesday, led by gains in the tech sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63%, or 307.65 points, to end at 49,482.15.
The Nasdaq gained 1.26%, or 288.40 points, to 23,152.08, while the S&P 500 added 0.81%, or 56.06 points, to reach 6,946.13.
The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," fell 8.29% to 17.93.
Investors focused on the extended gains in the tech sector as stocks looked to build on gains from the prior trading day.
Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% ahead of its earnings report, which was set to be released after the closing bell alongside quarterly results from software giants Salesforce and Snowflake.
Oracle climbed 1.2%, leading gains in software stocks as the sector continued its rebound. Other artificial intelligence-focused companies, including Palantir Technologies and Microsoft, also posted advances.
Meanwhile, investors remained attentive to escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
Also, over the weekend, US President Donald Trump threatened to raise global tariffs to 15%, although a 10% levy on imports from all countries officially took effect on Tuesday.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump highlighted what he described as the strength of the US economy. He also unveiled a proposal to provide workers with access to government-backed retirement accounts and reiterated his call to prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.
Trump said tariffs were a key driver of what he described as the greatest economic recovery in US history, crediting them for the Dow surpassing 50,000 far earlier than expected and for the S&P 500 reaching 7,000.
He called the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs unfortunate but stressed that the measures would stay in place through what he described as fully approved and tested alternative legal mechanisms.
Trump also said he believes that over time, as in the past, revenue from tariffs paid by foreign countries could largely replace the modern income tax system and ease the financial burden on Americans.
On the data side, the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage in the US declined to 6.09% last week, marking its lowest level since September 2022. And total mortgage applications increased by 0.4% at the week ending on Jan. 20.