Big technology shares linked to artificial intelligence helped power equities to new highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Wednesday with support from falling market interest rate.. The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent, and the Nasdaq rallied 2.0 percent. Bond yields fell while oil prices and the dollar rose.

Nvidia, the market's AI champion, led the advance with other chipmakers including Broadcom, ASML, and Taiwan Semiconductor among the best performers. Hewlett-Packard and CrowdStrike were big winners on earnings and guidance highlighting their AI prospects.

Other big tech stocks like Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta advanced with a boost from another leg down in bond yields as the run of weak economic indicators continued with a lower than expected rise in ADP private payrolls. The softer economic reports have revived expectations for US rate cuts this year. The next big focus will be monthly employment figures due Friday and consumer price data next week. Investors Wednesday chose not to focus on service purchasing managers report that beat expectations.

Best sectors Wednesday included technology, communications services and industrials. Lagging were consumer staples, energy, real estate, utilities and financials.

Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.

Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.