How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 12/4/2024

U.S. stock indexes reached more records after tech companies talked up how much artificial intelligence is boosting their results.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Wednesday to add to what looks to be one of its best years of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record.

Salesforce pulled the market higher after highlighting its artificial-intelligence offering for customers. Marvell Technology jumped even more after saying it’s seeing strong demand from AI. Treasury yields eased, while bitcoin climbed after President-elect Donald Trump nominated a crypto advocate to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 36.61 points, or 0.6%, to 6,086.49.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308.51 points, or 0.7%, to 45,014.04.

The Nasdaq composite rose 254.21 points, or 1.3%, to 19,735.12.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.22 points, or 0.4%, to 2,426.56.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 54.11 points, or 0.9%.

The Dow is up 103.39 points, or 0.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 516.95 points, or 2.7%.

The Russell 2000 is down 8.16 points, or 0.3%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 1,316.66 points, or 27.6%.

The Dow is up 7,324.50 points, or 19.4%.

The Nasdaq is up 4,723.76 points, or 31.5%.

The Russell 2000 is up 399.49 points, or 19.7%.