NEW YORK, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks experienced a modest uptick on Wednesday, as investor sentiment subdued ahead of the release of crucial inflation data and the kick-off of bank earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 170.57 points, or 0.45 percent, to 37,695.73. The S&P 500 added 26.95 points, or 0.57 percent, to 4,783.45, within 0.3 percent of its record high set two years ago. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 111.94 points, or 0.75 percent, to 14,969.65.

The S&P 500 was very close to its record closing high of 4796.56 points, which was set on Jan. 3, 2022.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with communication services and technology leading the gainers by adding 1.17 percent and 1.00 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, energy and materials led the laggards by dropping 1.01 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively.

The technology sector drove the day’s gains on the S&P 500, with Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia all enjoying substantial increases in their share prices. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fluctuated slightly but ultimately remained near 4 percent, while a 37 billion dollar auction of the Treasury notes received higher-than-average demand.

All eyes now turn to the crucial December inflation reports, which could provide crucial insights into the future trajectory of central bank policy. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said Wednesday that it’s still too soon to call for rate cuts as the central bank still has some distance to go on getting inflation back to its 2 percent target.

“We have seen meaningful progress on restoring balance to the economy and bringing inflation down,” said Williams. “I expect that we will need to maintain a restrictive stance of policy for some time to fully achieve our goals, and it will only be appropriate to dial back the degree of policy restraint when we are confident that inflation is moving toward 2 percent on a sustained basis.”

Market participants have scaled back expectations to a 67.6 percent chance for at least a 25-basis-point rate cut in March, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.