S&P 500 Tops 7,500 as AI Fuels Record-Breaking Run: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A revival of the artificial-intelligence trade kept fueling momentum in stocks, with the market also rising after retail sales showed signs of consumer strength despite a war-driven surge in energy costs.
The record-breaking run in equities drove the S&P 500 above 7,500. Nvidia Corp.’s seven-day gain put its value closer to $6 trillion. A solid outlook from Cisco Systems Inc. lifted its shares by 13%. The AI-hype extended a surge in Ford Motor Co. while Cerebras Systems Inc. soared 75% in its debut. Apple Inc. wavered as Bloomberg News reported OpenAI has failed to see the expected benefits from a deal and is preparing possible legal action.
Renewed AI wagers, solid corporate profits and signs of economic resilience have sent stocks from one record to the next. A report showed retail sales rose for a third month in April. Control-group sales — which feed into the calculation of goods spending for quarterly gross domestic product — exceeded estimates.
“April retail sales echoed what we’ve heard across corporate conference calls for weeks now: The US consumer remains resilient despite soaring gas prices,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro. “When it comes to stocks though, tech is in the driver’s seat right now, not the consumer.”
When there’s uncertainty, the best defense remains a strong offense of fundamentally superior stocks, according to veteran Wall Street strategist Louis Navellier. Since the order backlogs are growing for data center and AI-related shares, the earnings in the upcoming quarter are now forecast to be potentially even stronger, he said.
In fact, bets that corporate profits will keep powering ahead have offset concerns that higher energy costs could weigh on confidence. First-quarter S&P 500 profits likely grew about 27% from a year ago, marking a sixth straight quarter of double-digit expansion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
It’s clear that Corporate America has become very skilled at adapting to a wide range of economic environments, according to Clark Bellin at Bellwether Wealth. For investors who missed the opportunity to put new money to work during the Iran war-driven slide in March, he says: “It’s not too late.”
“Stocks are still climbing the wall of worry, and we don’t think there is euphoria in markets just yet, and in fact, there is still plenty of skepticism which suggests this bull market has more room to run,” Bellin added.
Also bolstering sentiment was the relative stability in oil prices. US President Donald Trump signaled China is willing to support negotiations with Iran, as he pushes for a diplomatic resolution to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after a commercial vessel was apparently seized near the United Arab Emirates.
Elsewhere, the pound fell as Andy Burnham secured a path to challenge Keir Starmer for the UK prime minister’s job, after a Member of Parliament quit to give the Greater Manchester mayor a run at his seat in the House of Commons. Bitcoin topped $80,000 after the Senate Banking Committee advanced a landmark US digital asset market structure bill.
Corporate Highlights:
China agreed to buy 200 Boeing Co. planes, President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Hannity.” But the accord fell short of the 500 737 Max and widebody aircraft Chinese airlines were expected to buy at the upper extreme of a landmark deal. Delta Air Lines Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said rising jet fuel costs and Spirit Airlines’s collapse are accelerating a divide in the industry between carriers catering to premium travelers and those competing primarily on price. Shares of freight brokerages sank after a Supreme Court ruling that may open the companies up to new lawsuits. Investors are growing increasingly optimistic about Amazon.com Inc.’s position in artificial intelligence, lighting a fire under the stock and sending the company’s market capitalization soaring toward the rarefied $3 trillion level. Nvidia Corp.’s major server assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported a stronger-than-expected increase in quarterly profit, highlighting sustained spending on hardware essential for AI. What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Returns in the US equity benchmark are driven by a near record-low number of stocks, putting too much weight on too few AI-driven pillars.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 3:06 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% The MSCI World Index rose 0.6% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3% The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1677 The British pound fell 0.9% to $1.3407 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 158.18 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 2.5% to $81,685.56 Ether rose 2.2% to $2,311.88 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.46% Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 3.04% Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.99% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $101.48 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.5% to $4,667.51 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
