Dow, S&P Climb, But Tech Drags on Nasdaq

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The blue-chip average and the S&P 500 pushed higher on Wednesday, but the Nasdaq slumped as traders ditched tech stocks.

Today's Markets

As of 12:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.2 points, or 0.57%, to 16495, the S&P 500 advanced 5.7 points, or 0.3%, to 1873 and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 29.3 points, or 0.72%, to 4051.

Wall Street took a beating on Monday, with the broad S&P 500 shedding 0.9% and falling further from record highs. The move was led by diving financial and consumer discretionary stocks.

Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said in prepared remarks to Congress that the Fed still sees the economy as having improved "appreciably" recently, despite a round of worrisome data recently. As such, the central bank still plans on raising rates once the economy improves further, as Yellen has stated in the past.

A report on consumer credit conditions from the Fed rounds out the quiet macro-economic calendar.

In corporate news, blue-chip entertainment giant Disney (NYSE:DIS) logged significantly better-than-expected quarterly results. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, filed for its initial public offering. The initial paperwork said it would be a $1 billion offering, but most analysts think that's just a placeholder number.

Brian Hamilton, chairman at Sageworks, said estimates on the company's valuation range from $150 billion to $200 billion.

"It’s refreshing to see a high profile technology company going public with real profitability," he said in an email. "However, if the estimates on valuation ... are correct, this will be a tremendously overvalued stock."

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 79 cents, or 0.79%, to $100.29 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline dipped 0.3% to $2.877 a gallon. Gold ticked up by $1.60, or 0.12%, to $1,310 a troy ounce.