The U.S. markets finished higher on Wednesday. At the close of New York trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 49,482 points, up 0.6 % from the previous day. A few minutes earlier the S&P 500 was at about 6,946 points, rising 0.8 %, and the Nasdaq 100, driven by technology stocks, reached roughly 25,329 points, up 1.4 %.
Investors were keenly watching the earnings announcement from Nvidia, the leader in high‑performance graphics processors for artificial‑intelligence workloads. Analysts expect the results to provide insight into how AI is influencing economic growth.
Meanwhile, traders weighed President Donald Trump’s declaration that operators of large data centers would be required to self‑fund their power generation. In the United States, opposition to new AI‑data‑center projects has intensified, as the construction costs and special contracts for these centers have pushed local electricity prices higher. Whether Trump’s policy ultimately benefits consumers or harms AI firms will depend on the exact details of the regulation.
The euro strengthened against the dollar in the evening. One euro traded at $1.1807, meaning one dollar was worth €0.8470.
Gold also gained. By nightfall the price of a troy ounce was $5,160, a 0.3 % increase, which translates to about €140.50 per gram.
Oil continued to move up. At around 10 p.m. German time, a barrel of Brent crude was priced at $70.95-an increase of 18 ¢, or 0.3 %, from the previous day’s close.