Stocks End Higher as Plan to Repeal Chip Curbs Boosts Chipmakers
A container ship sails out of the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergTakeaways NEW
US stocks closed higher Wednesday, after fluctuating rapidly in a news-filled session, as traders assessed multiple headlines on trade, a cautious stance from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and a big drop in the shares of Google-parent Alphabet Inc.
The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 both rose 0.4%, getting a boost from news that the Trump administration planned to rescind Biden-era AI chip curbs as part of a broader effort to revise semiconductor trade restrictions. The gains were led by a steep jump in the stocks of tech bigwigs, including Nvidia Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed up 1.7%.