U.S. stocks saw modest gains in Wednesday's late trading session, with technology shares led higher by NVIDIA. The latest Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes revealed disagreements among monetary policymakers regarding the future path of interest rates. A U.S. statement suggesting military action against Iran remains a possibility caused a sharp rise in international oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 66.24 points, or 0.13%, to close at 49,599.43. The Nasdaq Composite increased by 128.00 points, or 0.57%, finishing at 22,706.63. The S&P 500 gained 24.71 points, or 0.36%, settling at 6,867.93. NVIDIA's stock price advanced by 2% following an announcement from Meta on Tuesday that it plans to use millions of NVIDIA chips in its data center infrastructure. Another member of the technology sector's major players, Amazon.com, also saw its shares rise by 2%. This movement came after regulatory filings showed that Bill Ackman's Pershing Square fund increased its stake in the e-commerce giant by 65% during the fourth quarter, making it the fund's third-largest holding. The stock had recently ended a nine-day losing streak. Shares of Micron Technology also climbed after David Tepper's Appaloosa Management boosted its holdings in the chipmaker. The stock was up more than 5% late in the session. While these stocks provided a lift to the broader market, Stephen Lee of Logan Capital Management noted that some lesser-known names within the technology sphere also performed well, including industrial technology stocks such as Trimble. That company's shares increased by 2% for the day. "When we peel back the surface and look at the relative winners, I'm not sure today truly overturned the notion that the market is broadening," the founding principal commented, adding that the market is becoming "increasingly discerning." Investors carefully reviewed the January Fed meeting minutes. The minutes indicated that participants generally supported the central bank's decision to maintain the key interest rate within the 3.5% to 3.75% range. However, officials were divided on the subsequent direction for monetary policy. In other markets, oil prices jumped as Wall Street digested the latest developments between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated on Tuesday that Iran had failed to respond to U.S. red lines in this week's nuclear talks, leaving military action as a remaining possibility. Wall Street had just experienced a session with light trading volume, where the major indices barely managed to eke out small gains. The software sector, already under pressure from concerns about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence, declined for the day.