Netflix and AI enthusiasm bring Wall Street to the verge of an all-time high
NEW YORK — Netflix, Oracle and other big tech companies boosted the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, as profits at those companies rose and enthusiasm grew about the revenue prospects that artificial intelligence can generate. The S&P 500 rose 37.13 points, or 0.6%, to 6,086.37, approaching its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 130.92 points, or 0.3%, to 44,156.73, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 252.56, or 1.3%, to 20,009.34. The gains came even as most U.S. stocks fell under the weight of another rise in Treasury yields. For example, smaller company stocks in the Russell 2000 index lost 0.6%, and about two out of every three stocks in the S&P 500 sank. However, the gains from large influential stocks were more than enough to make up for it. Netflix helped lead the rise after it announced that live events such as American football games and a fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul helped it add nearly 19 million subscribers during the latest quarter. It also reported higher profits than analysts expected, and indicated that it is increasing subscription prices in the United States and other countries. Netflix titles rose 9.7%. The Netflix logo on a remote control. (Jenny Kane/Associated Press) On the other hand, Travelers advanced 3.2% after also beating analyst expectations for its earnings in the last quarter. The insurer said gains on its investments and growth in net written premiums helped it overcome losses created by Hurricane Milton, which hit the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico in October, and other catastrophes. Some of the market’s strongest boosts came from companies related to artificial intelligence. Oracle rose 6.8% after advancing 7.2% the previous day, ahead of the planned announcement — which ultimately came late on Tuesday — about Stargate, a joint venture that the White House says will begin building data centers. and the generation of electricity necessary for the further development of artificial intelligence in Texas. The partnership formed by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank will invest up to $500 billion. Shares of SoftBank Group Corp. in Tokyo rose 10.6%. Other AI-related stocks also gained ground, continuing their already fantastic run. Nvidia, the company whose chips are driving much of the movement toward AI, rose 4.4%. Its shares are above $147 after just two years ago they were below $18. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose from 4.57% to 4.60%. It had been largely retreating since an encouraging update on inflation last week, but is still well above its position in September, when it was below 3.65%. In the cryptocurrency market, where prices have risen on hopes that President Donald Trump will make Washington more cryptocurrency-friendly, bitcoin was just above $104,000. On Monday it was above $109,000, a record.
