The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and topped its prior all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67 points (0.1%) while the Nasdaq composite set its own record after climbing 1.2%.
Gains for tech stocks led the way like Micron Technology's 4.8% and On Semiconductor's 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size. American Electric Power fell 3% after announcing a $2.6 billion offering of its stock. Birkenstock Holding dropped 12.9% after the British company said its results for the latest quarter were hurt by U.S. tariffs and other factors.
Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. said that its profit for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China's Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and its stock that trades in the United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts' expectations. A report on Wednesday showed that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was considerably worse last month than economists expected. That followed a report on Tuesday showing accelerating inflation at the U.S. consumer level.
Rising tariffs, bad weather and other factors have pushed up prices for fuel, food and transportation, but the biggest driver has been the jump in oil prices after the war with Iran, which has slowed global crude flows and depleted worldwide inventories at a record pace; Brent crude, though easing slightly this week to about $105.63 a barrel, remains far above pre-war levels near $70, and the surge has all but ended market hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year'if anything, a pause or even a rate hike looks likelier'removing a key boost Wall Street seeks from cheaper borrowing even as lower rates would normally support stocks and other assets while risking higher inflation.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi led the way with a jump of 2.6%. It had sunk 2.3% the day before, after a senior figure in the administration suggested the government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens. That sapped momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Tuesday and is well above its 3.97% level from before the war. The rise in yields helped send stocks of utilities and real-estate owners to some of the sharper losses in the S&P 500. Such companies tend to pay relatively big dividends, which become less attractive to investors looking for income when bonds are paying more in interest.
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