Stocks resumed their uptrend Wednesday as a rally in the technology sector offset any worries over the ongoing government shutdown. Nvidia (NVDA, +2.2%) was in focus after commentary from CEO Jensen Huang lifted the collective artificial intelligence (AI) spirits.
Speaking to CNBC, Huang said that “demand of computing has gone up substantially” in the past six months. He added that demand for Blackwell, the company’s most advanced AI chip, “is really, really high.”
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail.
According to Bloomberg, Nvidia is set to invest $2 billion in xAI as it looks to raise $20 billion in capital.
On Tuesday, reports that Oracle (ORCL, +1.6%) is losing money on rentals of Nvidia’s Blackwell chips caused the main indexes to close in the red.
Today, however, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1% to 23,043 and the broader S&P 500 added 0.6% to 6,753 – new record closing highs – while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished fractionally lower at 46,6011.
Dell soars on a major dividend commitment
Elsewhere in the tech space, Dell Technologies (DELL) popped 9.0% after the PC maker and technology solutions specialist unveiled updated financial targets on Tuesday.
The company now expects annual revenue growth of 7% to 9%, up from its previous target of 3% to 4%. It also anticipates annual earnings-per-share growth of 15% or better, an improvement over its prior forecast of 8% or better.
As for its dividend, the company committed to growing its payout by 10% or more annually through fiscal 2030 – extending its time frame by two years.
“Customers are hungry for AI and the compute, storage and networking we provide to deploy intelligence at scale,” said chairman and CEO Michael Dell in the company’s press release. “We’re successfully translating that demand into growth and strong cash flow that we’ve largely returned to shareholders.”
Dell’s upwardly revised targets reflect “continued upward revisions in AI investment across the industry” and aim “to increase its overall PC and Storage market share,” says Susquehanna International Group analyst Mehdi Hosseini.
The analyst adds that “DELL views AI as a key growth driver, contributing to revenue, cash flow, and $14.5 billion in shareholder returns, which represents 97% of adjusted free cash flow since the program’s inception.”
Fed officials split on rate cuts, minutes show
In economic news, Wall Street parsed through the minutes from the September Fed meeting to see where central bank officials stood on rate cuts.
Last month, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lowered the federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point – its first cut of the year – on concerns over a weakening labor market.
“Almost all” FOMC members supported a quarter-point rate cut at this meeting, according to the minutes, while “around half expected an additional cut at the October meeting.”
The FOMC minutes showed that committee members were split on whether there should be a total of two or three rate cuts this year.
Even with the government shutdown, which has delayed key economic data the Federal Reserve uses in its decision-making, CME Group FedWatch shows that futures traders are pricing in a 93% chance the central bank cuts rates by a quarter-percentage point at its meeting later this month.
The odds of another rate cut in December are currently at 78%.
For those wondering, the next Fed meeting, slated for October 28-29, will still go on as scheduled even if the shutdown continues through the end of the month. The Fed is an independent agency and is not impacted by the lapse in funding.
