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Tech rally sends Nasdaq to new closing high

David Carrig
USA TODAY
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The Nasdaq composite leaped to a new closing high Wednesday in a stock rally that carried the Dow more than 120 points higher.

Gaining 1.5% -- 74 points -- to 5106.59, the Nasdaq blew past its old closing high of 5092.09, set April 24.

The Dow rebounded from the previous day's sharp sell-off, recovering some of the 190-point loss it suffered Tuesday in its worst trading day of the month.

Tech stocks led the rally as the major indexes were up for the first time in three trading sessions.

Reports of a potential deal between Greece and its bailout creditors provided support to stocks as European markets soared.

The Dow gained 0.7%, or 121 points, to close at 18,162.99. Up 0.9% was the S&P 500, ending at 2123.48 on its 19-point gain.

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The tech sector was the top gainer of the 10 S&P 500 sectors and the top four stocks of the Dow 30 were tech giants Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC) and Apple (AAPL).

The U.S. dollar extended gains against some currencies after a surge the previous day. Traders sent the dollar higher on signs of improvement in the U.S. economy such as better-than-expected home sales, business investment and consumer confidence.

The dollar's sharp appreciation was a partial factor in Tuesday's sell-off. The strong dollar sent commodity prices falling, which in turn hit shares of material, oil and gas and industrial companies.

The dollar rose to 123.84 yen Wednesday from 122.99 yen in the previous trading session.

Overseas, European markets jumped after Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says his country is close to reaching a deal with its creditors, but stressed that "calm and determination" were needed in the final stretch of negotiations.

Speaking after a meeting at the finance ministry in Athens on Wednesday, Tsipras said that "we have made many steps, and we are in the final stretch, we are close to an agreement."

His comments came shortly after government officials said negotiators were to start drafting a staff-level agreement with creditors to end a months-long deadlock and unlock aid that would allow the country to make a looming debt repayment on June 5.

Britain's FTSE 100 index surged 1.2% and Germany's DAX index gained 1.3%. France's CAC 40 jumped 2%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index was up 0.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.6%. China's Shanghai composite index added 0.6%.

U.S. stock markets closed lower on Tuesday as the Dow dropped 190.48 to 18,041.54.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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