S&P 500 closes at record high as traders brace for Nvidia earnings

The S&P 500 ticked higher on Wednesday as investors turned their eyes to Nvidia earnings, which could be a make-or-break moment for the bull market.

The broad market index ended the day up 0.24% at 6,481.40, setting a fresh all-time closing high. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.21% at 21,590.14, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 147.16 points, or 0.32%, to finish at 45,565.23.

Shares of Nvidia, which account for roughly 8% of the S&P 500 and has the biggest weight in the benchmark according to FactSet data, were little changed.

The market has been largely looking past Trump’s unprecedented move to fire Fed Board Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank’s board, with U.S. stocks coming off of a lackluster trading session by ending little changed Tuesday.

“Interest rates are on the cusp of being lowered, and earnings are trending higher. In aggregate, inflation, interest rates and earnings trends support a risk-on bias,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management, in an interview with CNBC.