Ticker: Wall Street edges higher; Calif. crew arrested for hundreds of Home Depot thefts

Modest gains on Wall Street lifted the stock market to an all-time high Wednesday ahead of a highly anticipated earnings update from computer chip giant Nvidia.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, good enough to nudge the benchmark index past the record high it set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite closed 0.2% higher.

Technology companies led the way higher, outweighing declines in communication services and other sectors.

Investors see Nvidia’s quarterly report, which was due after the bell, as a barometer for the strength of the boom in artificial intelligence because the company makes most of the chips that power the technology. Its heavy weighting also gives Nvidia outsized influence as a bellwether for the broader market. Its shares slipped 0.1%.

Calif. crew arrested for hundreds of Home Depot thefts

Southern California authorities say they uncovered a criminal ring that stole $10 million in merchandise from Home Depot over several years, including 600 thefts this year alone, which the company calls the largest organized retail theft in its history.

Prosecutors say the thieves nabbed high-end electrical merchandise such as circuit breakers and outlets, which the group’s leader resold through his electronics business in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Times reported. A 48-count criminal complaint has been filed against nine people who allegedly targeted 71 Home Depot locations across multiple counties, the newspaper reported.

The operation’s alleged leader, 59-year-old David Ahl, faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted.