S&P 500 pulls within 1.2% of its all-time high even as majority of its stocks fell: Broadcom, Nvidia and other AI stocks made up the difference
Fortune Stan Choe ● Covered by 2 sources
AI stocks pushed Wall Street up Tuesday, pulling the S&P 500 to within 1.2% of its record. Most stocks fell anyway, showing how a few big names are propping up the rally.
Based on reporting by Fortune, Stan Choe — read the original for the full story.
Summary, retelling and take written by AI under human oversight; images are AI-generated illustrations. How we work · Report an error
Wall Street’s latest lift came from the same corner of the market that has been doing the heavy lifting for months: artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and got within 1.2% of the all-time high it set earlier this month. The Nasdaq composite added 1.2%. The Dow was up just 25 points, or less than 0.1%, with an hour left in trading.
That advance masked a broader weakness. Most stocks in the S&P 500 were down, but gains in a handful of influential AI names were enough to keep the index moving higher. Broadcom climbed 4.2% after announcing a $63 billion financing deal tied to Anthropic’s access to its XPU AI accelerators and networking gear. Nvidia rose 0.8% and helped push the index up as well. CoreWeave jumped 8.5% after a rough stretch of sharp swings.
The move was part of a wider rebound in AI shares after weeks of worries that the trade had become vulnerable. Investors have been fretting about the cost of borrowing to build data centers and buy more AI chips. For now, though, the sector is back in favor, and it has become strong enough to carry the market even when most other stocks are slipping.
The day also brought a few other big movers. General Motors rose 5.6% after saying it will move its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq, a switch it says fits its tech-focused strategy and could open the door to the Nasdaq 100. JetBlue Airways surged 20.3% despite a bigger summer loss than analysts expected. Royal Caribbean Group added 5.5% after a stronger-than-expected profit and a higher full-year forecast.
Not every earnings report got the same welcome. Boeing fell 10.2% after posting a larger loss than expected. Hilton Worldwide Holdings dropped 2.6% after weaker summer revenue and a profit outlook that came in below analysts’ estimates at the midpoint. Sherwin-Williams slipped 1.9% as high mortgage rates continued to weigh on housing demand and CEO Heidi Petz said customer sentiment points to muted demand into 2027.
Outside stocks, Treasury yields barely moved ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision on Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury yield edged down to 4.99% from 5.00% late Monday. Oil also eased, with Brent crude down 1.2% to $109.41 a barrel. Markets abroad were mixed, with Seoul up 3.1% and Shanghai down 1.3%.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is what a market looks like when a theme gets too big to ignore and too concentrated to trust. A rally held up by a few AI giants and a financing deal is not broad strength; it’s selective enthusiasm with a very expensive wardrobe. The rest of the market is still doing the hard work of reminding everyone that earnings, rates and reality have not gone anywhere.
Read more about this at: Fortune