US equity indexes rose amid gains in technology and as investors weighed a slowdown in expansion in a services index ahead of comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 6,075.8 after midday on Wednesday, after touching a new intraday record high earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1% to 19,677.1 and The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.5% higher to 44,933.9. Apart from technology, the communication services sector was also among the top gainers intraday. Energy was the standout decliner.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) shares jumped 23% intraday, the leader on the Nasdaq after the semiconductor company issued an upbeat fiscal Q4 earnings outlook at the midpoint. Further, its results in the prior three-month period topped market estimates.

Salesforce (CRM) reported fiscal Q3 revenue late Tuesday, surpassing Wall Street's estimates amid subscription and support sales gains. Its shares shot up 8.3% intraday, the biggest gainer on the S&P 500.

The Institute for Supply Management's US services index fell to 52.1 in November from 56.0 in October, compared with expectations for 55.7 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The reading points to slower expansion in the sector, in line with most of the regional services data and the S&P Global measure already released.

Many respondents in the ISM survey cautioned that tariffs would lead to price increases for their services, Oxford Economics Senior Economist Matthew Martin said. He added that the sideways movement in the ISM prices index indicates price pressures are still impacting business operations. "The Fed won't set monetary policy in anticipation of potential changes in trade policy, and we expect another rate cut in December, but tariffs will inevitably complicate matters for the Fed."

Treasury yields declined, with the US 10-year down 2.2 basis points to 4.2% and the two-year rate 3.5 basis points lower at 4.14%.

Speaking at a Bloomberg and Global Interdependence Center Symposium in New York City Wednesday, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said he expects inflation to converge to the Fed's 2% target. "Along this baseline path, it seems important to maintain policy optionality, and the time may be approaching to consider slowing the pace of interest rate reductions, or pausing, to carefully assess the current economic environment, incoming information and evolving outlook," Musalem said.

Powell is scheduled to speak at 1:45 pm ET in a moderated discussion at the New York Times DealBook Summit.

Further, in economic news, ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 146,000 increase in November, below expectations for a 150,000 gain compiled by Bloomberg. The November gain followed a downwardly revised 184,000 gain in October.

New orders for US factory goods rose by 0.2% in October, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, following a 0.2% decrease in September.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.5% to $69.57 a barrel.

In international news, French members of parliament are taking part in a debate ahead of a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Bloomberg reported that the government is "set to fall."

Gold rose 0.5% to $2,680.71 an ounce, and silver jumped 1.6% to $32.01 an ounce.