US close: S&P 500, Nasdaq hit new highs as AI stocks rally

6th Oct 2026 22:34

(Sharecast News) - Renewed confidence in the AI trade and easing bond yields lifted US stocks on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs.

The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher at 7,818.93, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 27,599.79. The Dow also rose 0.5% to settle at its highest since 25 September.

"The big bond market sell-off appeared to be yesterday's news on Tuesday as the S&P 500 hit fresh record levels, supported by buoyant AI stocks," said AJ Bell head of markets Dan Coatsworth.

"Expectation is already building ahead of the US third-quarter earnings season, with numbers starting to filter their way into the market in the coming weeks. Perceived AI winners are likely to be under the spotlight, particularly given how dominant these companies now are in US indices."

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 4 basis points to 5.270%, while the two-year yield fell 4.2bp to 4.789%.

Meanwhile, oil prices finished little changed but erased earlier losses by the close, with front-month Brent crude settling 0.3% higher at $100.58 a barrel after dropping to a low of $97.06 early on.

In other news, investors were looking ahead to Wednesday's session, which will see the release of the latest minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee. The minutes come as rate-hike expectations have fallen after last week's economic data showed lower-than-expected core PCE inflation and payroll gains.

"Although we expect the minutes to show that FOMC members are worried about the outlook for inflation, recent economic data suggests that the Fed has time to hold on and wait for further evidence that new price pressures are building before raising rates again," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

In equity news, stocks in the AI space jumped, including Ciena, Astera Labs, CoreWeave and Ciena. Nvidia, while only marginally higher, reached a new record high.

Semiconductor group Marvell Technology surged after new long-term targets at an investor day impressed. The company expects FY28 revenues to be nearly $2bn ahead of the market forecast at $20bn, and set the FY31 estimate at $70bn-90bn, compared with the current $47bn estimate.

Shares of Option Care Health surged by a third after private equity firm CD&R and McKesson agreed to buy the provider of home and alternate site infusion services in a $5.8bn deal. The price of $32.05 per share represents a premium of around 37% to Option Care Health's closing share price on Monday.

Uber finished lower on the news that it is spending $2.3bn to buy food marketplace ezCater as it looks to expand its takeaway delivery service further into corporate and group food orders. Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi said catering could be a "huge revenue stream for restaurants", adding that Uber's scale would allow ezCater's service to reach millions more customers.

AbbVie gained after a late-stage trial of its lymphoma treatment developed with Genmab delivered better outcomes than the current standard therapy.

On the macro front, the US trade gap widened in August as imports jumped sharply, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, with the goods and services deficit increasing to $105.6bn, up from a revised $92.8bn in July. Imports climbed to $420.8bn, up $17.2bn on the month, with industrial supplies, crude oil, gold and capital goods all posting strong gains, while exports rose more modestly, up $4.5bn to $315.2bn, helped by higher shipments of industrial supplies and capital goods.

The goods deficit widened by $12.8bn to $136.6bn, while the services surplus was little changed at $31bn. Year‑to‑date, the overall deficit still remains narrower than in 2025, but August's jump highlights renewed pressure from stronger inbound demand and higher commodity‑related imports.