NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Wednesday as investors bought into technology stocks that have thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic following the upbeat quarterly results from Salesforce and HP Enterprise.

Salesforce.com Inc, which is set to enter the blue-chip Dow index next week, surged 26.8% as it raised annual revenue forecast due to high demand for its online business software.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co added 4.6% as its full-year profit outlook came ahead of market expectations.

The tech sector climbed 2.1%, while Netflix Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc, considered to be stay-at-home winners, gained between 2.3% and 9.6%.

At 12:34 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.79 points, or 0.01%, at 28,252.23, the S&P 500 was up 26.18 points, or 0.76%, at 3,469.80. The Nasdaq Composite was up 173.84 points, or 1.52%, at 11,640.32.

Energy stocks fell 1.5% on fears of disruption to oil companies from Hurricane Laura, which is expected to rapidly strengthen to a Category 4 and hit the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast after dark.

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