The U.S. Stock market advanced Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.6% and nearing its all-time high from late last month, as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and anticipated earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 129 points, a 0.3% increase, even as the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%, according to the Associated Press.
Nvidia, the most valuable company on Wall Street, led the market’s gains, rising 1.6% after Meta Platforms announced a long-term partnership to utilize millions of Nvidia’s chips and equipment for its artificial intelligence data centers. “No one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated. The company’s performance was described as the single most powerful force driving the S&P 500 higher.
The market’s positive trajectory comes despite growing investor concerns regarding the financial implications of artificial intelligence development. While the upside of AI is apparent, anxieties are mounting over the substantial investments companies like Meta are making and whether those expenditures will translate into increased profits and productivity. Meta’s stock experienced initial volatility, falling as much as 1.7% before recovering to a 0.6% gain.
Futures trading earlier in the day indicated a mixed start, with Dow Jones futures rising slightly alongside S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures, as reported by Investors.com. This followed President Trump’s State of the Union address. Nvidia’s earnings report, released after market close, was a key focus for investors, particularly given the stock’s significant weighting within the S&P 500. According to CNBC, Nvidia entered Wednesday’s earnings release “in a multi-month trading range, while carrying the largest short interest notional exposure in the S&P 500” at $50 billion.
Recent market activity has also been influenced by political factors. In August 2025, the S&P 500 rose after President Trump attacked the Federal Reserve, and subsequently fired a central bank governor, raising concerns about the Fed’s independence, Reuters reported.
