2025.10.0818:30:10UTC+00US Stocks Extend Record Highs

U.S. stocks reached new heights on Wednesday, driven by ongoing transactions among leading AI companies and advancements in datacenter infrastructure, which bolstered the tech sector's surge. The Nasdaq increased by more than 1%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%, and the Dow posted a more modest gain of 0.3%. Notably, AMD saw a significant rally, surging 10% during the session, contributing to a weekly gain of over 40% as markets evaluated its agreement with OpenAI—a development marking over $1 trillion through a series of interconnected deals for the ChatGPT developer. In addition, Micron experienced a 4.5% rise, with Nvidia, Oracle, and Amazon each advancing over 2%. The positive momentum persisted even after the FOMC's recent meeting minutes reiterated expectations for further rate cuts within the year to support a fragile labor market, despite policymakers' focus on controlling high inflation. Furthermore, Cisco's shares rose by more than 2% following the release of its new AI chip designed for datacenters. On the other hand, consumer defensive stocks and banking shares saw declines.