Wall Street rose to record levels Wednesday as technology shares rebounded, even after multiple inflation reports dampened expectations for near-term interest-rate cuts. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high, but the session still showed pressure outside the tech-heavy corner of the market, with many stocks falling.
The advance in the technology complex helped lift the S&P 500 by 43.29 points, or 0.6%, to a close of 7,444.25. The Nasdaq composite followed a similar path, gaining 314.14 points, or 1.2%, to end at 26,402.34. By contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67.36 points, or 0.1%, to 49,693.20, underscoring that the record move was uneven across sectors.
Shares tied to artificial-intelligence and semiconductors led the momentum. Micron Technology rose 4.8% and On Semiconductor climbed 11.1% after both had stumbled the day before, when investors pared back “excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.” Nvidia, a chip maker that has been closely watched during the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was described as the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 higher because of its size.
The session also came amid corporate and policy signals that kept investors focused on the AI supply chain and global demand. The AP reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang received an invitation to join President Donald Trump on a trip to China, where Huang and Trump could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy. The same day, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. said its profit for the 12 months through March “zoomed by nearly five-fold” as its AI investments paid off. China’s Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and the company’s U.S.-traded stock rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts’ expectations.
At the same time, the broad market’s footing remained constrained by inflation data and higher energy costs. The AP cited a report showing that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was “considerably worse last month than economists expected,” following a Tuesday report on accelerating inflation at the consumer level. “Corporate earnings and AI momentum are acting as the market’s primary shock absorbers, but the road is getting significantly rougher,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Investors also kept a close eye on oil prices, with the AP pointing to the war with Iran as a key driver of higher crude costs and slower global flows. Oil prices moved more modestly on Wednesday after big gains early in the week, with Brent crude down 2% to settle at $105.63 a barrel. The AP said that figure remained well above the roughly $70 level before the war and that the International Energy Agency reported worldwide oil inventories depleting at a record pace.
Higher oil costs and sticky inflation have also shifted how traders view the Federal Reserve’s path. The AP said the jump in oil prices has pushed traders to give up most hopes for a cut to interest rates this year by the Fed, and that if the Fed does not move, a rate hike “seems like the next-best bet.” Market participants also weighed the knock-on effects of yields, with the AP reporting the 10-year Treasury yield edging up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Tuesday.
In parts of the market that are more sensitive to interest-rate expectations, results were mixed. The AP reported that the rise in yields helped send utilities and real-estate stocks among the sharpest decliners in the S&P 500, noting that companies in those groups often pay relatively large dividends that become less attractive when bond yields rise. American Electric Power fell 3% after announcing a $2.6 billion stock offering, and Birkenstock Holding dropped 12.9% after the British company said tariffs and other factors hurt its latest-quarter results.
Outside the U.S., markets rose across much of Europe and Asia, the AP said. South Korea’s Kospi led with a 2.6% jump, after it had fallen 2.3% the day before when a senior figure in the administration suggested the government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens, sapping momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.