US stocks climbed to fresh record highs on Tuesday, extending the technology-led rally as investors continued to back artificial intelligence-related companies ahead of the third-quarter earnings season.
The benchmark S&P 500 rose around 0.6% to an intraday record of 7,818.57, moving above its previous peak of 7,816.7 reached on 13 August.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite also reached a new record, gaining approximately 0.6% to 27,635.
The Nasdaq had already closed at a record high on Monday, meaning Tuesday’s advance represents a further extension of the AI-driven rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained around 306 points, or 0.6%, to 51,572, showing that the advance was not confined entirely to technology stocks.
Investor enthusiasm continues to centre on expectations that heavy spending on AI infrastructure, semiconductors and computing capacity will translate into strong earnings growth for the largest technology companies.
The latest gains are particularly notable because they have come despite elevated government bond yields, which would traditionally place greater pressure on high-valuation growth stocks.
Instead, investors appear increasingly willing to tolerate higher yields because many of the companies leading the AI investment cycle have strong cash generation and substantial balance-sheet capacity.
Expectations for the forthcoming corporate earnings season are now an important support for valuations.
For investors, the immediate question is whether companies can deliver profit growth strong enough to justify the increasingly elevated valuations attached to AI-related stocks.
The new S&P 500 and Nasdaq records show that momentum remains firmly positive, but they also increase the importance of upcoming earnings results: any disappointment from the major technology companies could have an outsized impact on increasingly concentrated US equity indices.
Investor takeaway: Wall Street has pushed to fresh record highs as enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and expectations for strong corporate earnings continue to support technology shares. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both reached new intraday peaks, while the Dow also advanced strongly.
