Nasdaq leads Wall Street gains as SpaceX, Super Micro boost AI sentiment

On Wednesday, the tech-focused Nasdaq led Wall Street to a higher close after favorable quarterly results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer. SpaceX shares surged 7.8% following Elon Musk's company's first profit as a public firm, while Super Micro Computer's stock jumped 9.6%, outperforming Wall Street estimates. The AI server maker's positive outlook helped bolster HPE and Dell, both of which experienced gains of 3.7% and 5.3%, respectively.

However, the tech sector experienced a setback from the previous week's AI-linked stock sell-off, with CoreWeave serving as the primary victim. Despite this, the S&P 500 Information Technology index rose by 1.6%, marking the biggest gain among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors. Marc Dizard, chief investment officer at Huntington Bank, noted that while the earnings reports provide some reassurance, they don't entirely answer investors' questions about AI investments' returns.

The technology market reaction reaffirmed that the AI trade remains intact, according to Dizard. In other news, Meta shares climbed 3% following its quarterly results release, and Tesla shares added another 1.6% after posting strong earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 360.21 points, or 0.69%, to 52,856.09, while the S&P 500 gained 44.60 points, or 0.58%, to 7,757.17, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 278.04 points, or 1.05%, to 26,702.86.