Wall Street was set for a higher opening on Wednesday, driven by Nvidia’s rise toward a $5 trillion valuation. Nvidia shares climbed 3.3% in premarket trading after CEO Jensen Huang revealed $500 billion in AI chip orders and plans for seven supercomputers for the U. S. government. The stock has gained about 50% this year and contributed significantly to U. S. equity growth in 2025. Apple briefly surpassed a $4 trillion market cap, while Microsoft also trades above that level.
Investors are excited about the AI theme and the spending trends in this sector, as noted by investment director Russ Mould. Major stock indexes, including the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq, experienced record highs due to optimism about artificial intelligence and anticipated rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft saw minor gains ahead of their earnings announcements. Market participants are eager to understand the valuations of Big Tech and the sustainability of AI spending.
On a different note, Boeing shares fell nearly 1% following a nearly $5 billion charge due to delays in its 777X jet program, while Caterpillar shares rose 4.9% after exceeding profit expectations. Third-quarter earnings for 180 S&P 500 companies are estimated to have increased 10.5% year-over-year. The Fed is expected to announce a quarter-point rate cut later in the day, while traders anticipate another cut in December.
In other stock movements, Verizon shares rose 4% after beating profit estimates, Centene Corporation surged 9.7% after posting a surprise profit, and Seagate Technology shares rose 6.4% after a strong earnings forecast. Conversely, Mondelez International’s shares dropped 4.8% after it cut its profit forecast, and Fiserv shares slumped 37% due to lowered earnings expectations for the second consecutive quarter.
With information from Reuters