Wall Street Stocks Surge to New Records Amid Strong Earnings

Stocks on Wall Street continued their upward trend on Wednesday, adding to their records from the previous day. The S&P 500 index rose by 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 455 points, or 0.8%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.

The market has been driven by strong corporate profits and expectations for continued growth. Three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported results so far this quarter, with Wall Street expecting profit growth of 50% when all are finished. The Walt Disney Co. rose 2.1% after easily beating profit forecasts, while Booking Holdings jumped 6.2% on strong travel demand.

Elon Musk's SpaceX fell 8.7%, despite reporting a smaller loss than expected in its first quarterly report as a public company. However, the company's announcement that it would exclusively use Nvidia's chips for artificial intelligence technology helped boost the semiconductor giant by 3.6%. Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.5% after Musk previously said both companies' chips would be used.

Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, noted that 'The coiled spring investors have been waiting for has finally released,' referring to the S&P 500's surge to record highs for the first time in two months. Strong profit growth and expectations for continued growth are driving the market higher.

The price of Brent crude oil fell 0.4% to $79.03 a barrel, but remains relatively steady despite ongoing concerns about the direction of the US-Iran conflict. The Federal Reserve is keeping a close eye on inflation, with Wall Street expecting at least one interest rate hike before the end of 2026.