Stocks closed modestly higher on Wall Street Wednesday as investors turned their focus to some strong earnings reports from Big Tech companies and hopes for getting more economic stimulus passed in Washington. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, jumped 7.28% after reporting a blowout quarter as its digital advertising machine regained momentum, the AP reports. Treasury yields rose. The S&P 500 rose 3.86 points, or 0.1%, to 3,830.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.12 points, or 0.1%, to 30,723.60. The Nasdaq fell 2.23 points, or less than 0.1%, to 13,610.54.
Shares of Amazon dropped 2% after the company reported a huge rise in quarterly profits. The company said Tuesday founder Jeff Bezos will be stepping down as CEO to focus on broader work at the company. Investors also continue to watch shares of companies such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment, which have been targets of a community of online investors seeking to push them higher at the expense of hedge funds who bet the stocks would fall. Compared to recent swings, they were up relatively modestly: GameStop, which plunged 60% Tuesday, rose 2.1% and AMC added 14.1%. GameStop announced it was hiring Matt Francis, formerly an engineering leader with Amazon Web Services, to the newly created role of chief technology officer.
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