A powerful surge in AI-related stocks — led by a 9% advance in NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) over the past two sessions — propelled the S&P 500 above the 6,900 mark and lifted the Nasdaq 100 to 26,100 points, both breaking new records, as investors brace for the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated rate decision on Wednesday.
• SOXX is poised for a potential breakout. Review the technical setup here.
Nvidia made history on Wednesday by becoming the first company ever to surpass a $5 trillion market valuation, pushing the combined worth of the Magnificent Seven to $22.2 trillion.
During the GTC event in Washington, D.C on Tuesday., CEO Jensen Huang unveiled visibility for more than $500 billion in data center orders for calendar years 2025 and 2026, along with plans to construct seven supercomputers for the U.S. Department of Energy aimed at advancing nuclear research and alternative energy development.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SOXX) rallied for the fifth straight session, outperforming all other industries.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to trim interest rates by 25 basis points at 2 p.m. ET, bringing the federal funds rate down to the 3.75%–4% range after cooler-than-expected inflation readings last week. Market participants will be closely watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments for any signal that policymakers could deliver another cut in December — an outcome traders currently view as another done deal.
On the earnings front, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) surged 13%, marking its strongest single-day gain since March 2009, after reporting results and guidance that topped expectations thanks to robust data center demand.
Other standout performers included Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER), up 20%; Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX), up 18.3% and Centene Corp. (NYSE:CNC), up 11%.
On the downside, Fiserv Inc. (NYSE:FI) tumbled over 40% after missing profit estimates and cutting its earnings outlook.
In commodities, precious metals rebounded strongly ahead of the Fed decision — silver rose 2.5% to $48.20 per ounce, while gold gained 1.2% to reclaim the $4,000 level. Oil prices advanced 1.2% to $60 a barrel, and Henry Hub natural gas spiked 15% to $3.85, marking its biggest one-day jump since December 2024.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) eased 1.1% to hover near the $111,000 level.
Wednesday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day chg. % |
| Russell 2000 | 2,523.75 | 0.6% |
| Dow Jones | 47,964.13 | 0.5% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 26,133.70 | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 6,907.81 | 0.2% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) edged 0.2% higher to $632.62.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.4% to $479.27.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained 0.4% to $634.87.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rallied 0.6% to $250.50.
- The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) outperformed, up 0.8%; the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) lagged, down 2%.
Wednesday’s Earnings Movers
- Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) down 1.3%
- Caterpillar Inc. up 13%
- Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) up 2.5%
- Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) down 4%
- Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) up 3.8%
- Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) down 5.4%
- CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) up 0.4%
- Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) down 3.5%
- Fiserv, Inc. down 43.2%
- American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) up 5.1%
- Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) up 1.4%
- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) flat, up 0.1%
- ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) down 1.2%
- Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) up 0.9%
- Otis Worldwide Corp (NYSE:OTIS) up 1.5%
- Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) up 3.5%
- Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) down 10.9%
- Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) down 4.8%
- Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) up 20%
- CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) down 17.8%
- Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) down 3.9%
- Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) down 3.7%
- PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) down 3.4%
- Edison International (NYSE:EIX) down 0.7%
- United Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ:UTHR) up 11.6%
- NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) down 0.8%
- Centene Corporation up 11.4%
- Fortive Corp (NYSE:FTV) up 8.3%
- WP Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) up 1.0%
- Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) down 2.52%
- Regency Centers Corporation (NASDAQ:REG) down 1.1%
- BXP, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) down 2.1%
- Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWKS) up 3.27%
Stocks scheduled to report earnings after the close include Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW), KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX), Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG), Public Storage (NYSE:PSA), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU), Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR), Ventas Inc. (NYSE:VTR), American Water Works Co. (NYSE:AWK), Rollins Inc. (NYSE:ROL), AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE:AVB), Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL), Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE:TYL), Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE:INVH), Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE:ESS), Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (NYSE:MAA), Sun Communities Inc. (NYSE:SUI), C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW), Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE:CSL), Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE:EHC), American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH), Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), and UDR Inc. (NYSE:UDR)
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