Nasdaq Jumps 1% While S&P 500 Gains 0.5%; Alphabet Surges over 9%; Apple Rallies 3.8%; Tesla Rises 1.4%

The Nasdaq rose 1% and the S&P 500 also ended higher on Wednesday as Alphabet jumped after a U.S. judge ruled against breaking up the Google parent and as investors were optimistic that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this month.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 24.58 points, or 0.05%, to 45,271.23, the S&P 500 rose 32.72 points, or 0.51%, to 6,448.26 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 218.10 points, or 1.02%, to 21,497.73.

Market Movers

Alphabet jumped 9.1% to its highest close on record after a judge in the U.S. vs. Google antitrust case ruled the search company wouldn't have to sell its Chrome web browser. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled, however, that Google would no longer be permitted to enter or keep any exclusive contracts that relate to distribution of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app. The judge also ordered Google to share search data with its competitors.

Apple, meanwhile, gained 3.8% after Mehta ruled that Google won't be barred from paying the iPhone maker to make Google the default search provider on its devices. Apple has a search distribution deal with Google. The court said it could revisit that part of the ruling.

Tesla stock rose 1.44%. Tesla has finally released its ‘Master Plan Part 4’ and it’s nothing more than a smorgasbord of AI promises about its humanoid robot, which can’t even serve popcorn.

Zscaler was down 1.5%. The cybersecurity company reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts' consensus. It said it anticipates fiscal-year earnings of $3.64 to $3.69 a share from revenue of $3.27 billion to $3.28 billion. Zscaler's profit guidance was in line with consensus but its expectations for revenue were higher than forecasts. CEO Jay Chaudhry said Zscaler was rapidly expanding its artificial-intelligence security portfolio to address the emerging risks of AI models and applications.

Nvidia dipped slightly to mark its fifth consecutive close lower. The stock has been pressured by worries of a slowdown in AI spending after the company's second-quarter data center revenue missed expectations. Nvidia remains up 26% for the year.

Dollar Tree was down 8.2% after the discount retailer reported second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations but issued a lukewarm third-quarter forecast.

Macy's was up 21% after the retailer topped quarterly earnings expectations and raised guidance. The chain reported its first quarter of same-store sales growth after 12 straight quarters of declines.

Campbell's rose 7.2% after the packaged food maker reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations. Campbell's, however, forecast tariff-related challenges in the year ahead.

Oil producer ConocoPhillips said it would be slashing up to a quarter of its workforce. "We are always looking at how we can be more efficient with the resources we have," a ConocoPhillips spokesperson said. "As part of this process, we have informed employees that a 20% to 25% reduction in our global workforce, which includes employees and contractors, is anticipated." The stock fell 4.4%.

HealthEquity was up 7.5%. The custodian for health-savings accounts posted second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations and raised fiscal-year earnings guidance. Management said it expects adjusted profit of between $3.74 and $3.91 a share, up from previous guidance of $3.61 to $3.78.

Shares of Bruker fell 12% after the scientific instruments maker announced a $600 million convertible share offering. Proceeds will be used strengthen the balance sheet, the company said, and to help pay off some debt.

Figma gained 3.9% ahead of second-quarter earnings from the design-software company. The report, scheduled for after the close of trading Wednesday, will be the company's first since it went public on July 31.