Post-Bell｜Nasdaq Ends At Record As Nvidia Hits $4T In Market Cap

Stocks rebounded on Wednesday after two straight days of losses, with the Nasdaq Composite ending at a record high after Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to hit $4T in market cap.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 217.54 points, or 0.49%, to 44,458.30, the S&P 500 gained 37.74 points, or 0.61%, to 6,263.26 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 192.88 points, or 0.94%, to 20,611.34.

Market Movers

Nvidia briefly reached a market capitalization of $4 trillion on Wednesday, making it the first company in the world to reach the milestone and solidifying its position as one of Wall Street's most-favored stocks. Shares of the leading chip designer rose as much as 2.8% to an all-time high of $164.42, benefiting from an ongoing surge in demand for artificial-intelligence technologies. The company's stock ended with a gain of 1.80%, leaving it with a market value of $3.97 trillion.

Apple was up 0.54% after falling lower earlier in the session. The iPhone maker said Tuesday that Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams plans to retire later this year. Williams, who has been with the company for 27 years, will transition his role this month to Sabih Khan, Apple's senior vice president of operations. In a note Wednesday, Wedbush analysts made the case for Apple to acquire AI search engine Perplexity, arguing that the company won't be able to catch up to rivals otherwise. The firm rates Apple stock at Outperform with a $270 price target.

AES Corp. surged 19% after Bloomberg reported the renewable power company was exploring its options, including a possible sale, amid potential takeover interest from large investment firms. Several major private-equity firms and infrastructure investors have been eyeing AES after the stock lost roughly half its value over the past two years, the outlet said, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of AES have declined 26% over the past 12 months.

Freeport-McMoRan declined 1.5%. The stock rose 2.5% on Tuesday after copper prices climbed 13% to all-time highs on President Donald Trump's promises to slap 50% tariffs on copper imports.

U.S.-listed shares of Verona Pharma rose 21% to $104.77 after Merck agreed to buy the lung disease-focused biotech company for roughly $10 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Merck will pay $107 per American depositary share for Verona. Verona makes Ohtuvayre, a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Merck was up 2.9%.

$WPP PLC($WPP(WPP.UK)$)$ declined 18% in U.S. trading after the advertising giant said it expected its customers to continue cutting back on ad spending. The steep losses came after the company shared a trading update for the first half of 2025, in which it noted a "deterioration in performance" as the second quarter progressed.

Hershey was down 4.7%. The stock fell 3.2% on Tuesday after Wendy's Chief Executive Officer Kirk Tanner was named to run the chocolate company.

Bloom Energy rose 18% to $28.71 after J.P. Morgan analysts upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised their target price to $33 from $18. The analysts said a tax credit for fuel cells in Trump's tax-and-spending bill would benefit the energy company.

Mobileye Global Inc. was down 7%. Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of the maker of sensors and software for driver-assistance features and self-driving cars to Hold from Buy. While Mobileye has strong technology, uptake by auto makers has been slower than expected, the firm said. Separately, Mobileye announced that a subsidiary of Intel would be selling 45 million shares of the company in an underwritten secondary public offering.

Chip maker Intel, meanwhile, fell 0.64%. The stock closed Tuesday with a gain of 7.2% on what was little fresh news. "Nothing new or fundamental, " said Jordan Klein, Mizuho managing director and technology specialist, adding there has been a rotation into semiconductor stocks, which could give Intel a much-needed boost considering its 33% decline over the past 12 months.

Aehr Test Systems, a maker of test systems for sensors and semiconductors, tumbled 12% after saying it was maintaining its "cautious approach" and wasn't "reinstating specific guidance beyond what we have already stated." The company added that it continues to see some timing-related delays in order placements "due to tariff-related uncertainty," particularly in the current first quarter.

Market News

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI is close to releasing an AI-powered web browser that will challenge Alphabet's GOOGL.O market-dominating Google Chrome, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The browser is slated to launch in the coming weeks, three of the people said, and aims to use artificial intelligence to fundamentally change how consumers browse the web. It will give OpenAI more direct access to a cornerstone of Google's success: user data.

Trump hits Brazil with 50% tariff, orders unfair trade practices probe

U.S. President Donald Trump turned his trade ire against Brazil on Wednesday, threatening Latin America's largest economy with a punitive 50% tariff on exports to the U.S. and ordering an unfair trade practices investigation that could lead to even higher tariffs.

Trump set the Aug. 1 tariff rate -- far higher than the 10% duty imposed on Brazil on April 2 -- in a tariff letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, that vented anger over what he called the "Witch Hunt" trial of Lula's right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.