04:55 PM EDT, 03/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes rose Wednesday, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record as traders awaited key macro reports scheduled to be released Thursday, including a fresh reading on fourth-quarter economic growth.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.9% to 5,248.5, surpassing its previous record closing level of 5,241.5 set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2% to 39,760.1, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% to 16,399.5. All sectors closed higher, led by utilities and real estate.

Official data are likely to show Thursday that the US economy grew at a 3.2% annualized rate in the December quarter, according to a Bloomberg-compiled consensus. That would mark an unchanged reading captured in a second estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis last month. In the third quarter, real gross domestic product rose 4.9%.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment report for March and the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales data for February are also slated for a Thursday release.

The US 10-year yield fell 4.4 basis points to 4.19% Wednesday, while the two-year rate slid 2.5 basis points to 4.57%.

Cargo reroutes stemming from the collapse of a key Baltimore bridge will likely result in freight delays, though analysts were split over the incident's expected impact on the US economy.

"Supply chains are back in focus after a massive cargo ship collided with the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore yesterday, leading to the presumed tragic loss of life and the indefinite suspension of shipping traffic through the port," Stifel said in a Wednesday note.

A record 52.3 million tons traveled through the port in 2023, with trade amounting to $80.8 billion, the brokerage said. "The rerouting of cargo ships could have inflationary implications at a time when consumers and policy makers alike are looking for a continued, sustainable downward trend in price pressures," according to Stifel.

"We don't anticipate that the disruptions to trade or transportation will be visible in US GDP, and the implications for inflation are minimal," Oxford Economics said in a report published Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.1% to $81.70 per barrel Wednesday. Commercial crude stockpiles in the US increased by 3.2 million barrels to 448.2 million barrels through the week ended March 22, the Energy Information Administration said. The consensus estimate on Bloomberg was for a decline of 700,000 barrels.

In company news, Cintas (CTAS) logged stronger-than-expected top- and bottom-line growth for the fiscal third quarter and sweetened its full-year outlook. The uniform supplier's shares jumped 8.3%, the top gainer on the Nasdaq and among the best on the S&P 500.

Merck (MRK) was the best performer on the Dow, up 5%. The company said Tuesday it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its drug Winrevair as a treatment for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Gold rose 0.7% to $2,214.60 per troy ounce, while silver added 0.5% to $24.74 per ounce.