The Dow Jones Industrial Average has bolted to a new record as strong Intel earnings and a new IBM venture boosted the blue-chip index.

The Dow jumped 77.52 points (0.45 per cent) to 17,138.20 on Wednesday.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 8.29 points (0.42 per cent) to 1,981.57, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 9.58 points (0.22 per cent) to 4,425.97.

Intel was by far the leader of the 30-member Dow, soaring 9.3 per cent after it reported earnings that bested expectations and announced $US20 billion ($A21.6 billion) in additional share repurchases.

IBM rose 2.1 per cent after unveiling a “landmark” partnership with Apple in which the two giants will collaborate on applications for Apple’s iOS system, which will employ IBM’s supercomputing analytics. Apple fell 0.6 per cent.

Microsoft, another tech company in the Dow, gained 3.8 per cent as investors await a major reorganisation announcement from new chief executive Satya Nadella.

“Technology was really more the driver today,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Capital IQ.

Stovall said the market has also been buoyed by generally solid earnings, which increase the confidence that second-quarter economic growth will live up to hopes.