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Nasdaq closes at new all-time high

New York - The Nasdaq bolted to a fresh record peak on Wednesday in a broad-based Wall Street rally that largely reversed sharp losses in the prior session.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 73.84 points to 5 106.59, almost 15 points above the prior record set April 24.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 121.45 points to 18 162.99, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 19.28 points at 2 123.48.

Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management, said the market is in a "back and forth" mode with little clear direction.

"Yesterday there was some nervousness over the potential for a Greek default and today we have a little more buying," he said.

Chipmaker Broadcom surged 21.5% higher following reports it is close to a deal to be acquired by Avago Technologies, which rose 7.8%.

The reports helped lift other chip companies, including Texas Instruments (+2.6%) and Micron Technology (+3.0%).

Other big gains came from Dow members Apple (+1.9%) and Microsoft (+2.2%), as well as Facebook (+1.5%) and Netflix (+2.1%).

Dow member McDonald's rose 0.2% as it announced it would stop reporting its sales on a monthly basis and would instead only report them quarterly. The restaurant chain said the move would enable it to focus investors on its long-term strategy.

Jewelry retailer Tiffany vaulted 10.5% higher as first-quarter earnings translated to 81 cents per share, much higher than the 70 cents projected by analysts.

Women's apparel and accessory seller Michael Kors slumped 24.2% after projecting full-year sales of just $4.7bn - $4.8bn, below the $5.05bn analyst estimate.

Tobacco giant Reynolds American jumped 2.3% as it received approval from antitrust regulators at the US Federal Trade Commission to acquire Lorillard. Lorillard rose 1.0%.

Packaged meat company Hormel Foods rose 3.2%after announcing it will acquire privately held organic prepared meat company Applegate Farms for $775m.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dipped to 2.13% from 2.14% on Tuesday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.87% from 2.89%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

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