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US stocks rise as Apple leads Nasdaq surge

New York - Enthusiasm about Apple's latest product launches propelled US stocks higher on Wednesday, with the tech-rich Nasdaq posting the largest gains of the three major indices.

The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 34.24 points (0.75%) to 4 586.52.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 54.84 (0.32%) to 17 068.71, while the broad-based S&P 500 tacked on 7.25 (0.36%) to 1 995.69.

Apple shares started slowly before picking up momentum and finishing the day more than 3% higher. Several analysts raved about its smartwatch and new mobile payment system, among the products unveiled on Tuesday.

Other technology names also rose, including Twitter (+4.5%) and Facebook and Priceline (both +1.0%).

But eBay fell 3.1% on worries that the new Apple payment system threatens its own PayPal service.

Dow member ExxonMobil fell 0.6% as oil prices dropped to new multi-month lows. Caterpillar, another Dow component, shed 1.4% following a downgrade by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Wednesday's trade showed an "outperformance by the glamor stocks, but the broad market is a little foggy," said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management.

Dollar General launched a hostile takeover campaign for Family Dollar, offering $80 a share for the company and seeking to scuttle a rival bid from Dollar Tree for $74.50. Family Dollar has said a deal with Dollar General would face major antitrust obstacles.

Dollar Tree slipped 0.2%, while Family Dollar gained 0.2% and Dollar General rose 0.4%.

Videogame publisher Activision Blizzard rose 0.3%t after announcing that its new science fiction video game "Destiny" netted orders exceeding $500mn.

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks vaulted 10.6% higher after it projected that revenues for the upcoming quarter would be $178-$182m, above analyst forecasts for $173.9m.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury advanced to 2.53% from 2.50% on Tuesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.27% from 3.23%.

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