Stocks rose Wednesday as strong earnings reports pulled the broader market higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 300 points -- closing above 45,000 for the first time -- while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added about 0.6% and 1.3%, respectively, both posting fresh record highs.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.61% or +36.61 points to 6,086.49

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.69% or +308.51 points to 45,014.04

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.30% or +254.21 points to 19,735.12

In the News:

UnitedHealth Group (UNH  ) Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning, the New York Police Department said. In a statement Wednesday, UnitedHealth group said it was "deeply saddened and shocked at the passing" of Thompson, who led the company's largest private health insurer in the United States, adding that he was a "highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him."

The company's investor day was canceled after the fatal shooting.

Eli Lilly's (LLY  ) Zepbound led to more weight loss than Novo Nordisk's (VO  ) Wegovy in a head-to-head clinical trial of the popular obesity drugs, based on results released Wednesday. Zepbound helped obese or overweight patients lose more than 20% of their body weight on average after 72 weeks of treatment, compared to Wegovy's roughly 14% weight loss for the same period.

Moving Markets:

Private Payrolls grew at a less-than-expected rate in November, according to date from payroll firm ADP released Wednesday, signaling labor market weakness heading into the end of the year. U.S. companies added 146,000 jobs this month, down from October's downwardly revised print of 184,000 and less that the 163,000 expected by Dow Jones consensus.

Beneath the headline, education and health services led job creation, contributing 50,000 positions, while construction added 30,000 new jobs, trade, transportation and utilities grew by 28,000, and other services contributed 20,000 positions. Meanwhile, manufacturing was down 26,000 jobs in November, and businesses with fewer than 50 employees also declined by 17,000.

"While overall growth for the month was healthy, industry performance was mixed," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a statement. "Manufacturing was the weakest we've seen since spring. Financial services and leisure and hospitality were also soft."

Bank of America believes the Federal Reserve is unlikely to hold interest rates steady in December, even if November's upcoming "official" jobs report shows stronger-than-expected private payrolls growth on Friday.

"Fed Governor Waller expressed a very similar view on Monday. Waller argued, as many other Fed speakers have done of late, that policy is still restrictive. We think this means that the risks around Friday's Nov jobs report are asymmetric: soft data would strengthen the case for a cut, but a robust report would not prevent a cut," the bank wrote in a Wednesday note.

On the Earnings Front:

Salesforce (CRM  ) shares were higher after the software company's fiscal third-quarter earnings topped analyst expectations and it issued positive fourth-quarter outlook. The company is expecting current-quarter sales between $9.90 billion and $10.10 billion with earnings per share in range of $2.57 and $2.62. Salesforce also raised its low-end fiscal 2025 revenue guidance to a new range of $37.8 billion to $38 billion -- bringing its midpoint to $37.9 billion, coming in ahead of estimates.

"We delivered another quarter of exceptional financial performance across revenu, margin, cash flow, and cRPO," CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement. "Agentforce, our complete AI system for enterprises built into the Salesforce Platform, is at the heart of a groundbreaking transformation."

Marvell Technology (MRVL  ) shares rose higher on Wednesday after the chipmaker reported strong third-quarter earnings and issued better-than-expected forward guidance, driven by increased demand for its custom AI chips. The company expects current-quarter revenue of $1.80 billion, plus or minus 5%, well above analyst estimates of $1.65 billion.

Chewy (CHWY  ) reported in-line third-quarter results late Tuesday, with its sales notably rising 4.8% annually. "Our third quarter results continued to build on the positive momentum we observed in Q2," CEO Sumit Singh said in a statement. "We delivered topline growth exceeding the high-end of our net sales guidance range, a sequential increase in active customers, continued adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, and robust free cash flow generation."

Foot Locker (FL  ) delivered disappointing third-quarter earnings on Wednesday and cut its full-year guidance, warning of softening demand, especially for its largest brand partner Nike (NKE  ). For its holiday quarter, Foot Locker expects sales to decrease between 1.5% and 3.5%. For the full year, the retailer now expects sales to fall between 1% and 1.5%, from is prior guidance of a decrease of 1% to an increase of 1%.

The company also lowered its full year comparable sales outlook to now grow between 1% and 1.5%, from its previous guidance of 1% to 3%. Foot Locker further lowered its full-year earnings outlook, now calling for adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.20 and $1.30.

"There are definitely some brands that we're seeing comp gain and then, you know, we're also contending with some more recent softness out of Nike," CEO Mary Dillon told CNBC in an interview Wednesday. "Given their size and scale, it's kind of makes sense that it would have an impact."

Dollar Tree (DLTR  ) shares rose higher Wednesday after the discount retailer reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and narrowed its full-year revenue outlook, lifting its low end to a new range of $30.7 billion to $30.9 billion. The company also raised its full-year adjusted earnings per share to a new range of $5.31 and $5.51.

Separately, Dollar Tree announced Wednesday that CFO Jeff Davis will step down.

For Thursday:

Market participants will turn their attention to earnings reports from companies including Kroger (KR  ), Dollar General (DG  ) and Five Below (FIVE  ) on Thursday as they look ahead towards Friday's key jobs report.