Wall Street edged up on Wednesday on the back of end-of-quarter wraps, which more than offset the profit-taking encouraged by last week's record highs.

As mid-day approached, the Dow Jones advanced 0.3% to 39,436.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to 16,446.8 points.

The traditional balance-sheet wraps two days before the close of the first quarter - aimed at maximizing portfolio performance - are keeping the rally going, even if their effect is relatively limited.

Investors are mainly focusing on semiconductor stocks, which have been highly sought-after since the start of the year, particularly Micron (+1.9%) and AMD (+1.4%).

Meta Platforms, one of the big winners of the first quarter with a gain of 44%, also stood out with a rise of 1%.

Market participants, on the other hand, are offloading chocolate makers and other confectioners such as Hershey (-0.1%) and Mondelez (-1%) as cocoa prices continue to soar against the backdrop of a poor harvest in West Africa.

Consumers should be prepared for higher chocolate prices in the months ahead, after cocoa prices rose by over 100% last year", warns Ole Hansen, Head of Commodities Strategy at Saxo Bank.

The hesitation shown in this penultimate session of the quarter does not call into question the quality of the start to 2024, as the Nasdaq Composite is heading for a quarterly rise of almost 10%.

With the recent crossing of 16,450, new peaks are in sight for the heavily technology-weighted index, which could return to contact the zenith of the 16.538 before Thursday, to finish the first quarter on a high.

The day's macroeconomic news came as little surprise to investors, with consumer confidence barely deteriorating in March, according to the Conference Board survey.

The confidence index calculated by the employers' organization came out at 104.7 this month, compared with 104.8 in February, with favorable perceptions of the current economic situation more than eclipsed by growing anxiety about the future.

Earlier in the morning, the Commerce Department had reported a 1.4% rebound in durable goods orders in February after a sequential 6.9% drop in January.

Excluding the usually erratic transportation sector, where orders rebounded by 3.3% in February, durable goods orders rose by just 0.5% over the period.

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