Strong corporate earnings and technology shares boosted Wall Street, with the broad S&P 500 index touching a record high.
Netflix shares rallied to a record high after the streaming giant reported a blowout quarter. Oracle, Nvidia and Microsoft and other artificial intelligence-linked stocks surged after the leaders of SoftBank, Oracle and OpenAI announced, with President Donald Trump, a Stargate AI venture.
"Trump’s ringing endorsement of Stargate is another shot in the arm for AI in the early days of his second presidency, and supports our long-standing view that the S&P 500 will thrive in 2025 amid growing investment in...this transformative technology," said John Higgins, chief market economist at Capital Economics.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.61%, or 37.12 points, at 6,086.36, off its new all-time high of 6,100.81 hit during the day. The blue-chip Dow rose 0.3%, or 130.92 points, at 44,156.73, and tech-laden Nasdaq gained 1.28%, or 252.56 points, to rise to 20,009.34. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 4.605%.
Corporate news
A string of positive company reports provided optimism for the stock market. News included:
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Netflix shares jumped after the company topped quarterly earnings estimates, gained almost 19 million new subscribers, which is a record, and raised its 2025 revenue forecast. It's also raising its subscription prices. The company closed at a record $953.99, up 9.69%, or 84.31 points. The last all-time closing high share price was $936.56, reached on Dec. 11, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
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SoftBank, Oracle and OpenAI announced, with Trump present, a $500 billion AI investment in the U.S. Nvidia, Microsoft and Arm Holdings will be involved in creating infrastructure for the joint venture, called Stargate. All of those companies' shares were higher.
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Procter & Gamble's quarterly earnings topped analysts' estimates, helped by higher demand for household staples like toilet paper and laundry products. Shares ended up 3%.
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Insurance company Travelers reported record annual profit, helped by strong underwriting activity. Shares gained 3.21%
On the downside, Johnson & Johnson fell about 2% after the drugmaker cited hurdles for this year, including Medicare changes and a stronger U.S. dollar that will hurt overseas sales. It reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on higher sales of cancer drugs and some medical devices but its full-year sales forecast fell short of expectations.
Halliburton's shares slipped 3.5% after the oil giant warned of softer North America activity this year and posted weak quarterly revenue.