01 Stock Market
U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday to send the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to closing records, after U.S. President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran, with a round of solid corporate earnings providing additional support for optimism.
Trump said the indefinite extension of the ceasefire followed a request by Pakistani mediators. However, the U.S. Navy's blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect, and Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Chipmakers and AI-linked plays dominated the list of unusual movers. Micron Technology (MU) jumped 8.48% at $487.48 after upbeat memory-chip demand signals, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose 6.67% at $303.46 on continued enthusiasm for its AI accelerators. Storage peer SanDisk (SNDK) advanced 8.37% at $979.07, and power-chip specialist Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS) sprinted 20.48% at $18.47 on product-launch optimism. Apple (AAPL) added 2.63% at $273.17, and NVIDIA (NVDA) gained 1.31% at $202.50, extending big-tech momentum, while car-rental giant Avis Budget (CAR) declined 37.82% at $443.94 as investors digested a sharp guidance cut.
Broader leadership stayed with high-beta growth ETFs and leveraged products. Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) climbed 7.70% at $105.64, ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) gained 4.90% at $60.21, and the blue-chip tracker Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) edged up 1.03% at $653.90. In contrast, the inverse semiconductor fund Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bear 3x Shares (SOXS) fell 7.69% at $16.80, and Intel (INTC) declined 1.49% at $65.27 after a mixed session for legacy chip names.
02 Other Markets
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose by 0.87%, latest at 4.33%.
USD/CNH rose 0.0015%, at 6.87; USD/HKD fell 0.0110%, at 7.83.
U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.0852%, at 98.68.
WTI crude futures rose 2.82%, at 95.58 USD/bbl; COMEX gold futures fell 0.78%, at 4,715.90 USD/oz.
03 Top News
Tesla Pares Gain as Investors Factor in Elon Musk's Warning of Heavy Capex Spending
Tesla (TSLA) pared its earnings rally in postmarket trading on Wednesday as investors gauged the company's Q1 earnings report and business update.
During the earnings conference call, CEO Elon Musk said 2026 will be a very exciting year. He said the company's heavy capital expenditure spending of about $25B this year will pay off in the future. Cybercab and Semi truck production will begin this year, although slowly at first, before going exponential at the end of the year and in 2027, per Musk.
"There is a large pipeline of significant improvements for FSD, and it will be possible to achieve unsupervised FSD anywhere in the world where it is legally permitted," highlighted Musk. He also confirmed that the robotaxi service was rolled out to Houston and Texas.
ServiceNow Crashes as Recent Acquisitions Lead to Slightly Lower-Than-Expected Margins
ServiceNow (NOW) shares plummeted 14% during early post-market trading on Wednesday after the enterprise software firm reported its first quarter 2026 financial results, which featured a lower-than-expected gross margin outlook.
For the quarter ended March 31, ServiceNow reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.97, which matched the consensus estimate. GAAP EPS was $0.45 compared to the $0.53 estimate.
IBM's Slower Revenue Growth Fans AI Worries, Shares Fall
IBM's revenue growth slowed in the first quarter on sluggishness in its software business, fanning fears of disruption from artificial intelligence tools and sending its shares down 7% after hours on Wednesday.
Concerns that AI will eat into the software business have grown with the launch of tools that can automate routine corporate functions.
Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data
Disclaimer: This content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice.
