Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Wednesday as investors applauded encouraging quarterly results from Target, Lowe’s and other retailers.

Technology companies accounted for a big share of the gains. Traders had a muted reaction to minutes from the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting last month, which showed officials were divided in their decision to cut interest rates for the first time in a decade.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 23.92 points, or 0.8, to 2,924.43.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 240.29 points, or 0.9%, to 26,202.73.

The Nasdaq added 71.65 points, or 0.9%, to 8,020.21.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 11.84 points, or 0.8%, to 1,509.85.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 35.75 points, or 1.2%.

The Dow is up 316.72 points, or 1.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 124.22 points, or 1.6%.

The Russell 2000 is up 16.21 points, or 1.1%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 417.58 points, or 16.7%.