New York, Sep 26 (IANS): US stocks closed higher, as the market was underpinned by strong share gains of Nike and positive new home sales data, and Wall Street took a wait-and-see stance on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 162.94 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 26,970.71. The S&P 500 was up 18.27 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 2,984.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 83.76 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 8,077.38, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday

The majority of 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow traded higher around the closing bell, with shares of Intel up 2.41 per cent, the second best performer after Nike.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around market close, with the information technology sector up 1.26 per cent, leading the gainers.

Shares of Nike surged 4.16 per cent, among the primary supporters of the market, after the athletic apparel manufacturer reported second-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates.

The strong results were boosted by its flourishing e-commerce business and new products, with online sales skyrocketing 42 per cent for the quarter. Sales in North America and Greater China also rose 4 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.

On the economic front, sales of new single-family houses rose 7.1 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 713,000 in August, the US Census Bureau reported on Wednesday.

The reading came above from the revised July rate of 666,000 and was 18.0 per cent above that of August 2018.