Tech Stocks Surge on Strong Earnings from Nvidia and Salesforce

Tech stocks led Wall Street higher on Thursday after Nvidia and Salesforce reported profits that exceeded analyst expectations.

Nvidia, a chipmaker, rose 9% after its quarterly results topped forecasts. The company's CEO, Jensen Huang, said 'AI has reached its inflection point' and is now doing 'useful work'. This helped alleviate concerns about the AI sector, which had been under pressure due to skepticism about booming demand for AI chips.

Salesforce, another tech giant, jumped 20.9% after it reported stronger profit than expected. The company's CEO, Marc Benioff, said it is 'seeing incredible demand' for its AI and data products. Salesforce also raised its revenue forecast for the year and announced a partnership with Anthropic to pair its chatbot with its platform.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.7%, pulling closer to its all-time high set earlier this month, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 172 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.