US stocks climbed Wednesday, driven by gains in technology shares, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to a new record high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, also setting a record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 200 points, or 0.4%.
Nvidia jumped more than 4%, lifting its market capitalisation above $5 trillion — a first for any US company.
The milestone underscores Nvidia’s extraordinary transformation from a niche video game chipmaker into a central force in the global artificial intelligence boom.
The stock surged 5% on Tuesday and is now up more than 50% this year.
The latest rally followed CEO Jensen Huang’s comments that Nvidia anticipates $500 billion in AI chip orders and plans to build seven new supercomputers for the US government.
AMD and Micron each gained about 3%, adding momentum to the sector.
The S&P 500 briefly topped 6,900 for the first time intraday on Tuesday, keeping it within striking distance of the 7,000 milestone.
Investors are betting on continued market strength as long as the Fed delivers a widely expected 25-basis-point rate cut later in the day.
The focus will be on whether Chair Jerome Powell signals further easing at the December meeting.
The market’s attention is also on earnings from the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps.
Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft report after the close on Wednesday, followed by Apple and Amazon on Thursday.
Geopolitical risks appeared to ease after the weekend progress in US-China trade discussions, though investors remain watchful ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
What will the Fed do?
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, marking a second straight reduction.
Markets have already priced in a near 100% chance of the move, which would bring the federal funds rate to a range of 4%–4.25%.
The real test for policymakers, however, lies beyond the rate decision.
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to grapple with questions about the pace of future rate cuts, the absence of key economic data due to the government shutdown, and the timeline for winding down the Fed’s balance sheet of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities.
The meeting comes amid growing divisions within the central bank over how far and fast to ease policy, underscoring the uncertainty surrounding the US economy’s next phase.
The post US stocks hit record highs at open: Nvidia hits $5T, Nasdaq at new ATH appeared first on Invezz
