Nasdaq notches another day of gains as tech rally powers on, Dow slips

4:15pm: Tech rally pushes Nasdaq higher

US stocks finished Wednesday’s session mixed, with the Dow Jones sliding 0.2% to 42,051 points.

The Nasdaq, driven by a 4% jump in Nvidia, added 0.7% at 19,146 points to secure its sixth day of gains while the S&P 500 was up 0.1% at 5,892 points.

3:36pm: Proactive news headlines

Excellon Resources Inc closed an C$8 million private placement led by Eric Sprott, selling 76.2 million units to fund its mining activities.

Polarean Imaging PLC saw its shares jump after Philips expanded their collaboration to apply Polarean’s Xenon MRI tech for pediatric lung disease.

TNR Gold Corp is exploring M&A opportunities amid rising interest in its lithium, copper, and gold royalty assets.

Sintana Energy Inc secured a 5% indirect interest in Angola’s KON-16 block through a strategic partnership with Corcel.

NanoViricides has initiated animal studies for its antiviral NV-387 as a potential treatment for measles and MPox.

Black Swan Graphene signed a deal with Modern Dispersions Inc to supply graphene for producing advanced thermoplastic compounds.

2:41pm: Stocks on the move

Tesla Inc is resuming shipments of components from China to the U.S. for its upcoming Cybercab and Semi models following a trade truce that eased tariffs.

Oklo Inc shares jumped over 17% after the nuclear energy firm projected its first revenues by early to mid-2026 and reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.

bluebird bio Inc surged 50% after amending a buyout deal with Carlyle and SK Capital to provide shareholders with a higher upfront cash payment of $5 per share.

Septerna Inc soared nearly 50% after striking a global licensing deal with Novo Nordisk to develop oral therapies for obesity and metabolic diseases.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose 5.1% after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program, bringing its total repurchase authorization to around $10 billion.

Tencent Holdings shares advanced after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, driven by 13% revenue growth fueled by its gaming division.

1:08pm: Wednesday's headlines

eToro is aiming to raise approximately $620 million through a US initial public offering after pricing its shares at $52 each, above the expected range of $46 to $50.

GSK has struck a deal to acquire a drug to treat and prevent the progression of steatotic liver disease, poised for phase III clinical trials, for up to $2 billion.

Tesla’s board has formed a special committee to evaluate CEO Elon Musk’s compensation, which could lead to a new stock options package

Advanced Micro Devices Inc unveiled a new $6 billion share repurchase program, expanding its total buyback authorization to about $10 billion.

12:22pm: Tech stocks show strength

The Nasdaq is charging ahead at midday, extending its winning streak to six sessions as investors continue to pile into large-cap tech. The tech-heavy is up 0.7% as of 12:15 PM EDT, with shares of Nvidia, AMD, and Tesla among the standout performers.

The broader market is showing signs of strength, though gains are more modest. The S&P 500 is up 0.2%, supported by tech and consumer discretionary stocks. The benchmark index is adding to Tuesday’s advance, which brought it back into positive territory for the year.

Optimism around easing inflation pressures and improving US-China trade relations continues to underpin sentiment, though healthcare stocks are weighing slightly on the index.

The Dow Jones, however, is lagging behind, down 0.1%. After a strong start to the week, the blue-chip index is facing some profit-taking, with heavyweight names coming under pressure. The Dow remains just shy of breakeven on the year, reflecting a more cautious tone among investors when it comes to industrial and value stocks.

Looking ahead, markets are bracing for upcoming US retail sales data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials—both of which could shape expectations for interest rates and the next leg for equities.

11:17am: Gold price eases

The temporary easing of global trade tensions is boosting equities but weighing heavily on gold, noted IG's Chris Beauchamp.

Gold prices fell by $32 today and appear set for a longer period of consolidation, according to Beauchamp.

"(Overall) the commodity continues to look like it is in for an extended period of consolidation," Beauchamp commented. 

"Fund flows should continue to favour US stocks in the short-term, and as the current ‘most crowded trade’ gold seems vulnerable as some investors reduce their exposure.”

10:45am: Turning point for stocks

If things keep going the way they are, US stocks look likely to beat European stocks this week, according to Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

Brooks noted that US stocks are now back in the green for 2025, but the next big question is whether they can climb back to the record highs they hit earlier this year.

"Will this week prove to be a turning point for US stocks, and will they play catch up with their European peers?" asked Brooks.

"This is worth noting, and the US/ China trade agreement could prove to be a turning point for global stock market flows."

9.55am: Mixed start for Wall Street

It's been a mixed opening few minutes on Wall Street. 

The S&P 500 is just below flat and the Dow Jones is just above, while the Nasdaq Composite is up 0.2% and the Russell 2000 small-cap index is down 0.2%.

On the S&P, the top riser is Super Micro Computer, up 15%, with fellow semiconductor name AMD up 7.3%, Dell and Nvidia both rising over 3% and Tesla 1.5%. Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway are slightly in the red, while Apple and Microsoft are just above flat.  

7.50am: Nasdaq tech set to rise on Wednesday

Nasdaq stocks are set to power gains for Wall Street on Wednesday, buoyed by deals struck by the sector on Donald Trump's tech-led trade trip to the Middle East. 

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.1% and for the Dow Jones were flat, while those for the Nasdaq were up 0.3%.

This follows the Nasdaq rising 1.6% and the S&P 500 0.7% the day before, dragged higher by large gains for Nvidia, Broadcom and Tesla, while the Dow Jones fell 0.6% due a sharp fall for UnitedHealth.

In premarket trading on Wednesday, Nvidia shares were up more than 3% while fellow semiconductor player Super Micro Computer soared over 13% ahead of the open. 

"Yesterday was a bullish eye-opener for investors in US tech stocks", said tech analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush, adding that it was "becoming crystal clear the AI Revolution has found its next major area of penetration...Saudi Arabia".

Joining President Trump and his team of advisors on his Saudi trip, part of a wider tour around various Gulf states, were Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Telsa and X boss Elon Musk, Amazon's Andy Jassy, Palantir's Alex Karp, Alphabet's Ruth Porat, IBM's Arvind Krishna, OpenAI's Sam Altman, AMD's Lisa Su as well as financial sector names such as BlackRock's Larry Fink, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and BlackStone's Stephen Schwarzman.

"The theme was clear in Riyadh...the AI Revolution is coming to the Saudi kingdom and Riyadh will be a major buyer of AI chips, software, autonomous/robotics, and datacenters over the next decade," said Ives. 

Coming off the US/China trade pact this weekend in Switzerland, the analyst said the tone in Riyadh has been "about the bright green light on the massive AI buildout in Saudi and this could open up a huge opportunity and TAM for Nvidia, Palantir, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla and many other well positioned chip/software names over the coming years".

This included Humain, the AI company of Saudi's crown prince, being given a major strategic partnership with Nvidia for "several hundred thousand" chips, starting with 18,000 most advanced chips to power data centers and a Saudi supercomputer.

During the event, Trump also announced a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia to the US, including a $142 billion defense partnership involving arms sales to modernise Saudi Arabia’s military with advanced equipment and services from US defense firms.

This morning, he landed in Qatar and then moves onto the UAE – where he is considering a deal that will allow them to import more than a million advanced Nvidia chips as well. 

Bonds have now given back any of this year’s gains, as investors "finally appear to be accepting" that the Fed is going to do nothing at least until we get more clarity on what the effect of Trump's dealmaking means for the economy, said market analyst Kenny Polcari at SlateStone.

Former Fed Vice Chair Roger Ferguson tried to make it clear by saying: "I think the wait and see posture at this stage is still merited until we’re sure that we’re getting progress and that the uncertainty about tariffs starts to recede a bit."