(Updates with index/price moves and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)
US equity indexes rose as strong results from several providers of artificial intelligence infrastructure boosted mega-cap chipmakers and as a decline in July's inflation rate to a four-month low lifted the odds of another Federal Reserve policy pause.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% to 26,619.2, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,754.2 ahead of Wednesday's close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1% to 53,813.3. Technology and real estate topped the gainers, while consumer discretionary and communication services led decliners in the final leg of trading.
Super Micro Computer's (SMCI) shares surged 20%, the top performer on the S&P 500, after the company released an upbeat fiscal 2027 revenue outlook.
CoreWeave (CRWV) reported a Q2 beat and raised guidance, with inference demand driving the upside despite higher near-term capital expenditures, Oppenheimer said in a note Wednesday. Its shares soared 20%, one of Nasdaq's leaders.
Among companies with market capitalizations exceeding $200 billion each, nine of the top 10 by intraday returns were in the technology sector, according to data compiled by Finviz. The leader of this pack was SpaceX (SPCX), up 10% after saying it is releasing Grok 4.6.
In economic news, the consumer price index rose 3.4% in July from a year earlier, decelerating from 3.5% in June and marking the slowest pace of growth since March, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. The annual print matched the average forecast in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, eased to 2.5%, also as expected, from June's 2.6%.
In geopolitical developments, CNN reported that Iran could "prolong" its war with the US until President Donald Trump leaves office, citing a top adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This comes as Tehran reorganized its military to be more aggressive abroad, Bloomberg reported. A number of top military appointments by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei mark a shift to an "offensive doctrine," Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who advises the force's new commander, told state TV late Tuesday, according to the news agency.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has suggested the agreement between the two sides remains relevant despite their refusal to shift positions, CNN reported.
The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract slipped 0.1% to $83.11 per barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent was 0.2% lower at $88.78 per barrel.
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