U.S. stocks rise as Wall Street looks to add to its winning streak

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose in morning trading Wednesday as Wall Street looks to build on its recent winning streak.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% in morning trading Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 229 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq added 0.5% as of 10:49 a.m. Eastern time.

Dell Technologies rose 2.3% after saying it has received record orders for its artificial intelligence servers. Dell and other technology companies had fallen earlier in the month as investors worried the prices for their stocks had gotten too frothy amid the frenzy over AI. Nvidia, the market’s most valuable company, rose 2.5%.

Urban Outfitters joined a host of other retailers this week in reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and its shares jumped 11.7%.

On the downside, shares of Deere dropped nearly 4% after the farm equipment company issued a downbeat forecast, citing pressure from tariffs.

Stocks have risen for three straight days as comments from Federal Reserve officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting in December. Traders are betting on a nearly 83% probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed is facing in an increasingly difficult decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, but it could also fuel inflation. The latest round of corporate earnings reports was mostly positive, but economic data has been mixed.

The latest economic data shows Americans bought less from U.S. retailers in September than economists expected and are growing more anxious about the economy. The Fed and Wall Street are also playing catch-up with government reports on the economy suspended during the government shutdown.

U.S. markets will have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.03% and the yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.49%.

In international markets, shares in Europe and Asia advanced. Germany’s DAX gained 0.7% while the CAC 40 in Paris also rose 0.6%. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% in a broad rally that encompassed major exporters and technology shares.