Tech stocks hit first all-time high since July

Technology stocks powered to new highs on Wednesday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1% and investors poured into key software and megacap players.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 1.5%, rallying for its fourth straight day since mid-October and knocking out its previous high touched in July.

The rally came amid a bounce in key software players, with Salesforce popping more than 9% after reporting strong earnings after the bell Tuesday. Adobe climbed 4%, and ServiceNow jumped more than 5%. GoDaddy, Oracle and Palo Alto Networks gained about 3% each.

Mainstay megacap technology stocks also rallied, with Apple inching higher by 0.1% to a new record. Amazon outperformed among the Magnificent Seven names, jumping more than 2%, while Nvidia, Alphabet and Microsoft rose at least 1% each, Meta Platforms was the only laggard of the group, dipping about 0.9%.

Marvell Technology was another significant gainer, surging 21% on the heels of a solid quarter. Within the semiconductor space, Broadcom and Arm Holdings added roughly 1%.

Other technology funds notching new highs included the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) and iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV).