U.S. stocks rise on Microsoft and European data

Shares traded on Wall Street gained on Wednesday pushing the Dow Jones index to its new historical high mainly due to a notable increase of Microsoft Corp and favourable economic data from Europe, while the S&P 500 stayed below its all-time high. The S&P 500 Index added 0.43% to 1,770.49, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 0.82% to 15,746.88 and the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.20% to 3,931.95.