NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Nasdaq composite carved out a new five-year high Wednesday as tech shares got a boost from Apple Computer, while the S&P closed at its highest level in nearly five years.

The Nasdaq composite (up 14.39 to 2,359.75, Charts) advanced 0.6 percent to post its best close since Feb. 16, 2001. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 35.70 to 11,239.55, Charts) rose about 0.3 percent, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 5.63 to 1,311.56, Charts) index added 0.4 percent to end the session at its highest since May 21, 2001.

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Apple Computer (up $6.04 to $67.21, Research) shot up 9.8 percent after unveiling its Boot Camp software, which allows Intel-fueled Macintosh computers to run the Windows operating system.

Those gains, along with a rally among chipmakers, fueled the advance in the tech sector.

Investors were scared off in the early going after a weekly supply report showed a decline in U.S. gasoline inventories, but investors jumped back into the action in the afternoon.

Treasury yields eased, lending support to sentiment. Top Fed officials said Tuesday that the central bank's rate hiking campaign may be nearing an end. (Full story.)

After the market close, Bed Beth & Beyond (Research) said its quarterly profit rose 9 percent, topping Wall Street's estimates. The company's shares rose 5.4 percent in after-hours trading on the Inet electronic network.

As of 5:30 p.m. ET, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures pointed to a flat opening for stocks Thursday.

No major economic releases are on tap for Thursday, and investors will likely be anticipating Friday's jobs report.

"Most investors are waiting for the employment report, because along with the ISM services and manufacturing reports, it gives us the first solid news about the economy in March," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the monthly report to show the economy added 190,000 jobs in March after gaining 243,000 jobs in February. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Wednesday he expects the numbers to be upbeat. Full story.)

The Fed also will be eyeing the payrolls report as it prepares to wind down its rate-hiking campaign. The Fed has steadily raised its key short-term interest rate 15 straight times since June 2004.

The central bank's most recent rate hike in March sent bond yields soaring. That has worried stock investors because higher rates increase the cost of borrowing and erode corporate profits.

Chipmakers were upbeat, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 13.90 to 517.94, Charts) index, or the SOX, rising 2.7 percent.

Advanced Micro Devices (up $1.35 to $34.78, Research) jumped 4 percent, and Intel (up $0.18 to $19.48, Research) rose nearly 1 percent.

Alcoa (up $0.81 to $31.67, Research) led gains among the Dow components, putting on 2.6 percent.

Home builders offered support for the broader market, with the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (up $44.52 to $921.70, Research) index gaining 5 percent.

Oil stocks also advanced. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector (Charts) index added 1.7 percent and the Amex Oil (up 20.75 to 1,111.85, Charts) index gained 1.9 percent.

Among decliners, St. Jude Medical (down $5.05 to $36.25, Research) slumped 13 percent in active trade after warning that first-quarter earnings and revenue would miss forecasts, due to weaker sales of a key heart device.

Maxtor (down $0.17 to $9.91, Research), a maker of computer disk drives, declined about 2 percent in unusually active New York Stock Exchange trade. The company -- which is being bought by larger rival Seagate Technologies -- warned late Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings loss will be wider than it initially forecast, due to the acquisition. Seagate (down $0.44 to $27.25, Research) tumbled as well.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancers beat decliners by a margin of five to four on volume of 1.6 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, winners topped losers by four to three as 2 billion shares exchanged hands.

Stocks, which got off to a weak start in the early going, turned around in the afternoon as investors refocused their attention on signs of economic strength.

Investors took in an upbeat reading on the services sector of the economy early in the morning. The Institute for Supply Management's index rose to 60.5 from 60.1 in February. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would slide to 59.

But that reading was offset by the government weekly fuel inventories report, which showed gasoline supplies fell in the latest week.

"Investors worried this morning when the oil inventory report was released, but the market is taking a second look and interpreting the data more carefully now," Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer of Advisors Capital Management, said.

While the report showed gas stocks declined more than expected, crude stocks still remain at their highest level since April 1999.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 84 cents to settle at $67.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 4.84 percent from around 4.87 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar tumbled against the euro and slipped against the yen.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $1.90 to $592.50 an ounce.

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