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

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