Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty ImagesUS stocks were generally higher Wednesday, with tech stocks weakening on the Nasdaq.This week is one of the busiest for initial public offerings in this year's calendar.The S&P 500 has seen a 14% increase in year-to-date, which is the second highest first-half gain since 1998.Subscribe to our daily newsletter 10 Things Before The Opening Bell.US stocks were generally higher on Wednesday, with tech stocks weakening on the Nasdaq. Wednesday marked the close of one of the best six months for the S&P 500 in 1998. It was up 14% year to date.Now, investors are pondering how strong economic data might influence the Federal Reserve's accommodative stance. Wednesday morning's ADP Employment report revealed that the US had added 692,000 private payrolls to its June total, more than was expected. The Labor Department's June non-farm payrolls data will be the focus of all eyes. They are due to be published on Friday.Here are the US indexes at 4 p.m. ET closes WednesdayDidi's public debut Wednesday was the busiest week of initial public offerings in this year. It soared as high as 28%. Didi's public debut is the biggest for a Chinese company since Alibaba. LegalZoom shares rose as high as 39% on the first trading day, while SentinelOne, a cybersecurity company, rose as high as 30%.Renaissance Capital reports that there have been 226 IPOs priced in this year. This is a 226.6% increase over the previous year.Morgan Stanley recently noted that although retail trading activity has declined from its peak during the pandemic, it still accounts for 10% of US stock trading volume on Russell 3000, which is a broad benchmark for US stocks.Bitcoin fell 4% to $34,727 due to the fact that it is struggling to rally higher in light of China's crackdown. The coin finished the first half 2021 with an 18% increase.West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose by 0.73% to $73.52 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for oil, rose 0.49% to $75.13 a barrel.The price of gold hovered around $1771 an ounce.
