Tech Stocks Boost Wall Street as AI Optimism Revives

Wall Street's main indexes surged on Thursday, with the S&P 500 reaching a record high as Micron's positive forecast spurred excitement about artificial intelligence, and a softer jobless claims report alleviated labor market concerns. Key tech stocks, including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, saw significant gains.

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high, as Micron's upbeat forecast revived the frenzy around artificial intelligence, and a softer-than-expected jobless claims report soothed worries about the labor market.

Micron Technology jumped 17.3% after the memory chip maker forecast higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue, underscoring that demand for memory chips used in AI computing was robust. The optimism lifted other chip stocks, with Nvidia rising 2.8%, Advanced Micro Devices advancing 3.6% and Broadcom adding 2.2%. The broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index jumped 3.7% to levels seen more than two months ago.

Investors also scrutinized a Labor Department report that showed jobless claims came in at 218,000 for the week ended Sept. 21, below estimates of 225,000. "Better employment numbers mean that the Fed will only cut by 25 bps at the next meeting ... on the one hand we won't get a bigger rate cut, but on the other hand, it indicates the economy is strong, which is good news," said Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at SimCorp.

Separately, the final reading of gross domestic product confirmed that the economy grew 3% in the second quarter. At 9:46 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 219.41 points, or 0.52%, to 42,134.16, the S&P 500 gained 37.03 points, or 0.65%, to 5,759.29 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 201.80 points, or 1.12%, to 18,284.01.

(With inputs from agencies.)