US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.26% to 7,748.50 points and the Nasdaq gaining 0.54% to 26,588.49 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.04% to 53,770.27 points, as strong earnings from AI infrastructure companies lifted investor optimism and softer-than-feared inflation reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve could hold interest rates steady in September.
CoreWeave surged 19% after the AI cloud company raised its annual capital spending forecast and reported second-quarter earnings above market expectations, adding to optimism around continued spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Other data centre operators also advanced, with IREN gaining nearly 10% and Applied Digital rising 4.9%.
Nebius Group jumped 34% after the data centre company reported second-quarter results that beat expectations, helped by continued demand for AI infrastructure.
Super Micro Computer surged 19% after the AI server maker forecast fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations.
Chipmakers also moved higher, with Nvidia gaining 3% and Micron Technology rising 4.9%. The PHLX Semiconductor Index advanced about 2.5%, although it remained around 15% below its record closing high reached on June 22.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes ended higher, led by real estate, which rose 1.08%, followed by information technology with a 1.06% gain.
Wall Street’s volatility gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, fell 0.8 point to 14.45, its lowest level since January.
The gains came as US consumer prices barely increased in July, with gasoline costs declining for a second consecutive month while underlying inflation remained relatively benign.
The data strengthened expectations that the Fed will not need to raise interest rates at its September meeting.
“The numbers came in right in line. The market’s reaction is slightly positive because the market was fearful it was going to come in worse than it did. You’re seeing a market thinking that the Fed is not being pushed toward a rate hike,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Traders were pricing in a 62% probability that the Fed would hold rates steady at its September meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Before the July inflation data was released, market expectations had been more evenly split between a rate hike and no change.
The S&P 500 is now up about 13% so far in 2026.
Elsewhere, Cava Group gained 14.2% after the restaurant chain beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter sales and core profit, while Lumentum Holdings surged 13.6% after forecasting first-quarter revenue above analysts’ expectations and beating estimates for its fourth quarter.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining stocks by a 1.7-to-one ratio across the US stock market.
The S&P 500 recorded 19 new highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq posted 123 new highs and 95 new lows.
Trading volume remained relatively light, with 15.5 billion shares changing hands on US exchanges, compared with an average of 17.5 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions remained in focus as a senior Iranian source said there had been no progress in talks with the US to revive an interim agreement reached in June and establish a timeframe for its implementation, while shipping attacks continued.
Reuters
