Apple on track for biggest jump since July

Apple shares jumped almost 5 per cent on Wednesday, leaving the tech heavyweight poised for its best day in six months and leading Wall Street higher.

Investors cheered the Cupertino, California-based company’s holiday quarter results, which showed a return to revenue growth amid a rebound in sales of the iPhone, its biggest source of revenue.

Wall Street analysts also homed in on another strong quarter of sales growth for services like iTunes and iCloud, something that the company has said it plans on accelerating over the next few years.

The shares jumped 4.9 per cent to $127.26 on the day, the highest level on a closing basis since July 2015.

Apple’s rally helped to push the broad S&P 500 0.3 per cent higher. The financials sector was also a strong gainer, with bank shares advancing amid a rise in Treasury yields.

Investors also parsed an upbeat report on private-sector employment and braced for the Federal Reserve’s policy decision due later in the day.