US stock market: Wall Street rises as Nvidia leads AI rally

US stocks moved higher on Wednesday, driven largely by gains in Nvidia, the market’s most influential stock. The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, pulling within 1.1% of its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 308 points, or 0.6%, as of 12:21 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3%.Nvidia jumped 2.3% after Meta Platforms announced a long-term partnership under which it will use millions of Nvidia chips and related equipment for its artificial intelligence data centers, AP reported.“No one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.As the most valuable company on Wall Street, Nvidia’s rise was the single biggest force lifting the S&P 500.The rally highlighted the strong upside that AI development continues to provide for U.S. equities. At the same time, recent sessions have seen sharp swings as investors weigh the potential risks tied to heavy spending on AI.Investors have grown cautious about how much companies such as Meta are investing in artificial intelligence and whether those large outlays will translate into higher profits and productivity.Meta’s stock fell as much as 1.7% earlier in the session before rebounding to post a 0.3% gain.Several corporate earnings reports added to the positive momentum, extending what has been a strong reporting season for major S&P 500 companies.Cadence Design Systems surged 9.1% after reporting quarterly profit and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations.Analog Devices rose 2.7% after also topping estimates for profit and revenue. The chipmaker said it recorded record orders for its data center business during the quarter.Outside of earnings, Moderna gained 5.5% after saying the Food and Drug Administration will review its flu vaccine candidate following an earlier refusal to consider it.In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.07% from 4.05% late Tuesday.The Fed has paused its interest rate cuts, though many investors expect reductions to resume later this year. Details in the meeting minutes could influence expectations about the timing, with widespread bets pointing to the summer, when a new Fed chair is scheduled to take office.In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.3% after fresh U.K. inflation data strengthened expectations that the Bank of England could soon cut interest rates.In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1% after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was reappointed by parliament following a landslide victory for her ruling Liberal Democrats in the Feb. 8 election. Investors expect her to push policies aimed at supporting the economy and markets.Several other Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.