Key Takeaways

U.S. equities advanced at midday Wednesday over excitement about the new Trump administration's technology-sector efforts and strong earnings reports. The Nasdaq added more than 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up as well.

Netflix ( NFLX ) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 when the largest streaming service reported a big jump in subscribers and announced price hikes .

Shares of Oracle ( ORCL ) and other artificial intelligence (AI) -related companies took off when President Trump announced a $500 billion AI joint venture among Oracle, OpenAI, and Japan's SoftBank.

Travelers Cos. ( TRV ) shares rose after the insurance giant posted better-than-expected results on higher premium revenue.

Meanwhile, Ford Motor ( F ) shares slumped as Barclays downgraded the stock, warning that potential tariffs threatened by President Trump could hurt the U.S. auto industry.

Shares of Textron ( TXT ) declined when the aircraft manufacturer missed estimates for revenue and its earnings outlook on the effects of a strike last year at its aviation unit and softness in its industrial business.

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) shares fell after the medical technology and pharmaceutical company's full-year sales outlook came in short of forecasts .

Oil futures and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note were little changed. Gold prices climbed. The U.S. dollar gained on the yen, slipped against the euro, and was little changed against the pound. Most major cryptocurrencies were trading lower.

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