US stocks hit records after the briefest of stumbles as gold’s price keeps rising

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got back to rising on Wednesday, while the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak and set its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 1 point, or less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1% to its own record.

Trading has been relatively muted recently following the U.S. government’s latest shutdown. The closure has delayed the release of several major economic reports that usually move the market. Stocks have been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, one of the major reasons the stock market has surged since April.

Another force that’s pushed the market to records is the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

Advanced Micro Devices jumped another 11.4% to add to its rally from earlier in the week, when it announced an AI-related deal. AMD was the best performing stock in the S&P 500.

Right behind was Dell Technologies, which piled more gains onto its own rally from Tuesday, when it talked up its growth opportunities related to AI. Dell rose 9.1%.

Poet Technologies climbed 17% and likewise added to its surge from Tuesday, when it said it raised $75 million in investment to accelerate its growth. The company sells high-speed optical engines and other products used in the AI systems market.

AI-related stocks have broadly been on a tear. Nvidia has soared nearly 41% so far this year. Oracle is up 73.2% over the same time, while Palantir Technologies has more than doubled with a nearly 143% surge.

The performances have been so strong that criticism is rising about prices having gone too far, like they did during the 2000 dot-com mania. That bubble ultimately imploded, and the S&P 500 halved in value.

Proponents say AI stocks are backed by big growth in profits, something that many dot-com stocks didn’t have at the turn of the millennium. But the Bank of England nevertheless warned Wednesday of the rising risk that tech stock prices pumped up by the AI boom could face a “sudden correction.”

“On a number of measures, equity market valuations appear stretched, particularly for technology companies focused on Artificial Intelligence,” policymakers at the U.K. central bank said in a report. With Big Tech companies accounting for an increasingly outsized share of stock market indexes, stocks are “particularly exposed should expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic.”

Elsewhere on Wall Street, AST SpaceMobile jumped 8.6% after Verizon Communications agreed to use its space-based network to offer service to cellular customers when needed, starting in 2026. Verizon slipped 0.2%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Jefferies Financial Group, which fell 7.9%. The investment bank disclosed some details about its exposure to First Brands Group, a supplier of aftermarket auto parts that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 39.13 points to 6,753.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.20 to 46,601.78, and the Nasdaq composite rose 255.02 to 23,043.38.

Gold, meanwhile, continued its stellar year and rose further past $4,000 per ounce. Investors have traditionally seen gold as a way to protect against rising inflation, and its price has soared more than 50% this year.

Worries are high about big debt loads that the U.S. and other governments are building, which threaten to push inflation higher. Political instability around the world, uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and expectations for rate cuts by the Fed are also pushing up interest in gold.

The Fed cut its main interest rate for the first time this year last month, and it hinted that more reductions may be on the way. Minutes from that last meeting released on Wednesday showed growing concerns among Fed officials about the slowing job market.

Lower rates could help boost the job market and economy, but Fed officials say they’re also staying mindful of inflation, which remains above the Fed's target of 2%. Lower rates can give inflation more fuel.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a weaker finish in Asia.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.12% from 4.14% late Tuesday.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Kelvin Chan contributed.