Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday as strong earnings from CoreWeave eased investor worries about excessive AI spending. The S&P 500 gained 98.45 points, or 1.31 percent, to end at 7,619.38, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 400.31 points, or 1.60 percent, to 25,466.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 254.60 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 52,486.49.
Why it matters
The rally was led by technology shares after CoreWeave surged about 25 percent on its quarterly results. Nvidia rose 2.9 percent in the regular session to close at 173.73 dollars, steadying after shedding about 430 billion dollars in market value over the previous two sessions. The S and P 500 technology sector gained 2.7 percent, and the Nasdaq 100 jumped 2.28 percent.
The mood changed after the closing bell. Nvidia fell about 8 percent in after hours trading after reports that its board was preparing to oust chief executive Jensen Huang, and Nasdaq futures slipped on Thursday morning. The swing showed how quickly sentiment can turn when a single company sits at the centre of the AI trade.
What happens next
Investors now look to the Producer Price Index on Friday for the next read on inflation, after consumer prices rose more than expected in October. The data will shape expectations for the Federal Reserve meeting on December 8 and 9, where a rate hike is now treated as all but certain.
For now, the rally has bought the AI trade some breathing room. CoreWeave gave investors a reason to believe the spending will pay off, and the broader market followed. Whether that confidence survives the Nvidia turmoil will be decided when Wall Street opens on Thursday.
CoreWeave is the neocloud firm at the centre of the AI spending debate, selling the computing power that AI companies need to train and run their models. Its shares jumped 8 percent after hours on the earnings beat, and Nasdaq futures jumped 1.3 percent, recouping the index loss in regular trading. The company had fallen at least 40 percent since the Nasdaq peak on October 6, along with Iren and Nebius, so the beat had to be big to matter. Nvidia earnings next week will be the next big test, and the Anthropic listing on November 19 will be another.
