Tech stocks led the market on Wednesday as Netflix (NFLX) stock surged to a record, while President Donald Trump’s boost to AI demand hopes outweighed fresh tariff worries.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose nearly 1.3%, bolstered by a jump in Netflix shares on the heels of surprisingly strong earnings. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed more than 0.6% to close just shy of its record high of 6,090.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 0.3%, coming off a rise of over 500 points on a winning Tuesday on Wall Street.
Trump is in the driver’s seat for markets, with investors on alert for any fresh move in the president’s fast-flowing overhaul of policy. His latest push to make the US a leader in AI — an $500 billion private-sector investment plan and a roll-back of Biden-era safety measures — is giving a bump to techs.
Shares in Oracle (ORCL), a partner in the “Stargate” venture, continued to rise, up near 7% on the prospect of higher AI spending. In Tokyo, SoftBank (9984.T, SFTBY) stock jumped 11%. Meanwhile Arm Holdings (ARM) soared nearly 16%.
Spirits were high despite heightened worries about a Trump-spurred trade war. The president said Tuesday his administration was considering imposing a 10% duty on China imports on Feb. 1, and he vowed to hit the EU with additional tariffs.
US stocks rallied on Tuesday amid relief that China wasn’t targeted in Trump’s first policy moves, which promised new duties for Mexico and Canada. Stocks in China fell on Wednesday as markets were rattled by the new trade-defense plan.
Corporate earnings continued to roll in. Before the bell, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) posted quarterly sales and profit above estimates, but its stock slipped as investors weighed the impact of a strong dollar. Shares of Procter & Gamble (PG) popped after its sales also beat forecasts.
