US stocks rise on AI-led earnings

The Nasdaq led Wall Street to a higher close on Wednesday after quarterly results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer improved investor appetite for artificial intelligence-related stocks while weakness in communication services stocks capped gains. SpaceX shares finished up 7.8 percent after Elon Musk's rocket and space technology firm posted its first profit as a public company. Musk said, following the report, that a merger of SpaceX and Tesla would be "a good idea," also boosting Tesla shares. Elsewhere in earnings, Super Micro shares jumped 9.6 percent and it was among the S&P 500's top gainers after the AI server maker forecast quarterly revenue and profit margin above Wall Street estimates, signalling that AI demand remained resilient. The report also benefited peers HPE, which rose 3.7 percent, and Dell, which rose 5.3 percent. The reports provided some reassurance to investors who have been worried about the sustainability of massive spending on AI buildouts and their profitability. The technology sector was hammered last week by a selloff in AI-linked stocks, with data centre operator CoreWeave at the centre of the storm. The SpaceX news "pushes back on some of the investor worries" about AI along with some help from Super Micro, according to Angelo Kourkafas,...