US stocks are rising toward more records on Wednesday as Wall Street, with AI giant Nvidia surging to become the first company valued at $US5 trillion ($7.6 trillion) on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 added 0.3 per cent, the Dow Jones was up 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5 per cent higher. All three indexes are coming off their latest all-time high. As expected, the Federal Reserve announced a cut to interest rates. Markets will be glued to Fed chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 5.30am AEDT.
Wall Street advanced again.Credit: AP
The Australian sharemarket is set to dip, with futures pointing to a slide of 6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX lost 1 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was fetching US65.99¢ at 5.23am AEDT.
On Wall Street, the deluge continues of big US companies reporting how much profit they made during the summer. The pressure is on to deliver growth because that’s one way they can quiet criticism that their stock prices have shot too high in recent months.
Caterpillar rallied 12.2 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Joe Creed said Caterpillar saw resilient demand, as customers bought more equipment, even with a “dynamic environment.”
Teradyne soared 19.4 per cent after the company, which makes automated test equipment and advanced robotics systems, likewise reported stronger profit than analysts expected. CEO Greg Smith credited strength related to artificial-intelligence applications and said “AI-related test demand remains robust.”
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Nvidia, meanwhile, was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 after rallying 2.7 per cent. Its $US5 trillion milestone comes just three months after the AI darling was the first to break through the $US4 trillion barrier.
They helped offset a 40.3 per cent plunge for Fiserv. The payments and financial technology company reported weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, slashed its profit forecast for the year and revamped its board of directors and leadership team. The stock is heading toward its worst day since it began trading in 1986.
