U.S. stocks turn higher as Apple rises

U.S. stocks closed higher after wavering between gains and losses Wednesday, boosted by tech shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 54.84 points, or 0.32 percent, to 17,068.71. The S&P 500 rose 7.25 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,995.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 34.24 points, or 0.75 percent, to 4,586.52.

The tech-rich Nasdaq outperformed the other two indices, as the shares of tech giant Apple jumped 3.07 percent to 101.00 U.S. dollars apiece, one day after the company unveiled two new iPhones with larger screens, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as a wearable device.

Twitter shares jumped 4.54 percent to close at 52.91 dollars per share after UBS upgraded the social networking company's shares to "Buy" from "Neutral" due to its strong position within the digital advertising space. UBS also raised the price target for Twitter shares to 65 dollars apiece from 50 dollars.

Facebook and LinkedIn shares both rallied 0.99 percent Wednesday.

However, the gains on Wall Street were constrained by fears of an earlier-than-expected rate hike from the Federal Reserve, which is scheduled to hold its monetary policy meeting next week. The benchmark S&P 500 saw the largest drop in a month on the previous trading day due to the sentiment.

A research report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on Monday fueled such expectations. The report suggested that the low volatility in asset markets could, in part, reflect that investors expect a more accommodative monetary policy than the Fed does.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 4.59 percent to end at 12.88 Wednesday.

Moreover, J.P. Morgan Chief U.S. Economist Michael Feroli said in a Monday note that the Fed will, in their opinion, modify its " calendar-based guidance" embodied in the language of "considerable time" from the end of bond purchases to the first rate increase at next week's policy meeting.

On the economic front, U.S. wholesale inventories edged up 0.1 percent in July, said the Commerce Department Wednesday, which is below market expectations of a 0.5-percent increase. Meanwhile, wholesale sales advanced 0.7 percent.

U.S. mortgage applications decreased 7.2 percent for the week ending Sept. 5 from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In other markets, the dollar rose moderately against most major currencies Wednesday on continuous speculations that the Fed would raise interest rates next year.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2905 dollars from 1.2920 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 106.82 Japanese yen, higher than 106.34 yen of the previous session.

Oil prices dropped as U.S. national crude inventories contracted less than expected.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery moved down 1.08 dollars to settle at 91.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery lost 1.12 dollars to close at 98.04 dollars a barrel.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday continued to fall for a third day as U.S. equities and the dollar rallied.

The most active gold contract for December delivery lost 3.2 U. S. dollars, or 0.26 percent, to settle at 1,245.3 dollars per ounce.