NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied to new record highs on Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, assumed office.

Former President Donald Trump left Washington on Air Force One an hour before the inauguration for his Florida retreat.

"The market reacted to the election a while back and it did so in a way that was positive to the nomination of President Biden," Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs in New York was quoted as saying by the Reuters Thomson news agency on Wednesday.

"Americans are ready for the next chapter and taking some of that readiness and investing back into the market," she said.

Technology stocks led the advance on Wednesday.

"People are back to looking at technology as a part of the market that can do well whether COVID stays a problem or is eventually pushed to the side," Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey told Reuters Thomson Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite shot up 260.07 points or 1.97 percent to 13,457.25.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 52.94 points or 1.39 percent to 3,851.85.

The Dow Jones index gained 257.86 points or 0.83 percent to 31,188.38.

The U.S. dollar regained some ground against the majors on Wednesday, but dipped against the Japanese yen and the commodity currencies.

The euro fell back to 1.2100 by the New York close Wednesday. The British pound slipped to 1.3648. The Swiss franc eased to 0.8898.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.2646. The Australian dollar was in demand at 0.7744. The New Zealand dollar rose to 0.7166. The Japanese yen climbed to 103.54.

In London, the FTSE 100 jumped 0.41 percent. The German Dax closed 0.77 percent higher. The Paris-based CAC 40 gained 0.53 percent.

On Asian-Pacific markets, the Australian All Ordinaries added 36.00 points or 0.51 percent to 7,051.00.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rallied 320.19 points or 1.08 percent to 29,962.47.

China's Shanghai Composite rose 16.71 points or 0.47 percent to 3,583.09.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo meantime lost 110.20 points or 0.38 percent to 28,523.26.