US stocks rallied on Wednesday as strong earnings from artificial intelligence infrastructure provider CoreWeave and a rebound in Nvidia helped Wall Street recover from recent losses. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.60% to 25,466.19, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.31% to 7,619.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 254.60 points, or 0.49%, to close at 52,486.49.
CoreWeave surged nearly 25% after reporting stronger-than-expected third-quarter revenue and raising its full-year revenue and operating income guidance. The results helped restore confidence in companies involved in the artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion. Nvidia climbed 2.9%, recovering some of its losses after falling nearly 10% over the previous two sessions amid scrutiny of chief executive Jensen Huang’s reported relationship with a woman alleged to have links to Chinese intelligence.
Investor sentiment was also supported by Anthropic’s updated initial public offering plans. The AI developer intends to offer 825 million shares in a listing scheduled for next week, potentially valuing the company at as much as US$1.4 trillion. The rebound followed Tuesday’s market decline, when stronger-than-expected US inflation data raised expectations of further Federal Reserve interest rate increases.
October consumer prices rose 0.4%, exceeding forecasts, while core inflation increased 0.3%. Markets are now pricing in approximately a 90% probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase in December, with policymakers signalling concern about persistent inflation. The US bond market was closed on Wednesday for Veterans Day.
Australian Market Outlook
Australian shares are set to open lower on Thursday, with S&P/ASX 200 futures down 37 points, or 0.40%, to 9,156. The negative lead comes despite a strong rebound on Wall Street, where technology stocks rallied following better-than-expected earnings from CoreWeave and renewed buying in semiconductor stocks. The Australian sharemarket gained 24.2 points, or 0.3%, to close at 9,153.2 on Wednesday, supported by technology and utilities stocks. Life360 surged 10.5%, while WiseTech and Codan also advanced. Banking stocks weighed on the benchmark, with Commonwealth Bank falling 1.2% despite reporting an 8% increase in first-quarter net profit. Macquarie declined 1.5% amid regulatory concerns. Investors will continue to assess the outlook for US interest rates after stronger-than-expected October inflation data increased expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. Oil prices also remain in focus, with Brent crude trading near US$92 a barrel following its recent decline amid hopes of de-escalation in the Iran war.
