US stocks close higher amid Apple gains

US stocks closed higher, as investors digested a batch of latest data, and strong shares of Apple contributed to daily market gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 227.61 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 27,137.04. The S&P 500 rose 21.54 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 3,000.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 85.52 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 8,169.68 on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The majority of the 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended gains around market close, with shares of Apple up 3.18 per cent, the second best performers in the tally. Apple has remained in the limelight and extended straight share gains since Tuesday afternoon, after the tech giant unveiled its latest flagship products, including a new generation of iPhone, iPad and Apple watches.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around market close, with the health care and the information technology sectors both up 1.01 per cent, leading the winners. Yet the real estate sector posted a decline of 0.32 per cent, the only loser in the tally.

Shares of RH rose 5.08 per cent, after the US home furnishings retailer reported higher-than-expected earnings for the second quarter. The company also raised its outlook for the fiscal year of 2020.

On the economic front, total inventories of merchant wholesalers were USD 679.1 billion at the end of July, up 0.2 per cent from the revised June level and up 7.1 per cent from the revised July 2018 level, the Census Bureau said on Wednesday.

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Sales of merchant wholesalers in July registered USD 499.6 billion, up 0.3 per cent from the revised June level and virtually unchanged from the July 2018 level. The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.1 per cent in August, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics reported on Wednesday. Yet the gain came lower than the 0.2 per cent increase in July.

The advance in final demand prices is attributable to a 0.3 per cent increase in the index for final demand services in August. In contrast, prices for final demand goods fell 0.5 per cent.