Wall Street hangs near records as AI boom drives gains

U.S. stocks continued hovering near record highs on Tuesday, driven largely by ongoing enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI) investments.

Major Indexes

• S&P 500: +0.2% (after setting a new record Monday)
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +140 points (+0.3%)
• Nasdaq Composite: +0.2%

After a weak start, all three major indexes turned positive by midday.

AI Stocks Continue to Lead

The biggest gains came from companies tied to AI infrastructure and semiconductor demand:

• Broadcom: +4.4%
• NVIDIA: +0.7%
• Marvell Technology: +28.4%

Marvell surged after Jensen Huang suggested at a conference in Taiwan that the company could become “the next trillion-dollar company.”

Meanwhile, NVIDIA’s market value has reportedly climbed above $5.8 trillion, highlighting the scale of investor enthusiasm surrounding AI-related businesses.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Jumps

Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 23.3% after reporting quarterly earnings that significantly exceeded analyst expectations.

Management credited strong demand from customers building AI computing infrastructure.

Data Center Boom Expands

Generac gained 5.7% after announcing an agreement to supply backup generators for a major hyperscale data center operator.

Hyperscale operators—including firms such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon—continue investing enormous amounts of capital into AI infrastructure.

Alphabet announced plans to raise approximately $80 billion through stock sales to help fund AI investments and expects capital expenditures to reach as much as $190 billion this year.

Concerns About an AI Bubble

Despite the rally, some analysts remain cautious.

The key question facing investors is whether AI will generate enough productivity gains and profits to justify the unprecedented spending levels currently taking place.

That skepticism helped push Alphabet shares down 1.8% despite the broader market strength.

Oil and Interest Rates Remain Key Risks

Investors are also monitoring:

• Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Elevated oil prices, which continue to contribute to inflation concerns.
• Treasury yields, which remain relatively high and could make borrowing more expensive for companies funding large AI projects.

Brent crude traded around $94.67 per barrel, down slightly on the day but still significantly above pre-war levels near $70.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased slightly to 4.45%.

International Markets

Markets were broadly positive overseas:

• European indexes mostly rose.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.5%, one of the strongest performances globally.

The market’s record-setting run continues to be powered by AI-related companies, particularly semiconductor and data-center infrastructure firms. However, investors are increasingly balancing that optimism against concerns about high interest rates, elevated oil prices, and whether massive AI spending will ultimately produce enough returns to justify current valuations.