S&P 500 ends higher as CoreWeave results fuel AI optimism

STORY: U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with the Dow the only outlier, ending virtually flat, the S&P 500 gaining about a quarter of a percent, and the Nasdaq adding more than half a percent. :: CoreWeave Upbeat quarterly results from AI-related firms continued to soothe investor fears about massive capex spending. :: CoreWeave Shares of CoreWeave, for instance, surged 19% after the AI cloud company lifted its annual capital spending forecast and topped second-quarter earnings estimates. Mike Mussio is president of FBB Capital Partners. “We continue to see some of these names that sold off dramatically in June and part of July on just general AI over-investment, scare around that, they're actually reporting earnings, and the earnings are kind of saying, 'nothing really to see here.' So some of these same companies and sub-industries within the AI complex that sold off hard are bouncing dramatically. And that's helping lead the Nasdaq higher today.” Data center operators also rose, with IREN gaining almost 10% and Applied Digital up nearly 5%. :: Nebius Group And shares of data center company Nebius Group jumped 34%, helped by second-quarter results that beat expectations. Shares of Super Micro Computer surged 19% after the AI server maker forecast fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations. And chip makers gained, with Nvidia rising 3% and Micron Technology adding about 5%. Meanwhile, data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer prices barely increased in July as the cost of gasoline declined for a second straight month, further reducing expectations of an interest rate hike next month from the Federal Reserve.