The S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) have reversed all of their year-to-date losses as of the market close today in a spectacular turnaround.
Protect Your Portfolio Against Market Uncertainty
- Discover companies with rock-solid fundamentals in TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter.
- Receive undervalued stocks, resilient to market uncertainty, delivered straight to your inbox.
Before the market open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its April Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, showing 2.3% inflation. That marked the lowest growth since February 2021 and was below the expectation for 2.4%. The report provided a nice jump-start for the benchmark indices as they opened in the green.
Shortly after, President Trump announced that Saudi Arabia had committed to investing $600 billion in the U.S., supporting a variety of industries that include technology, energy, and defense. Companies mentioned in the commitment include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Uber (UBER), Boeing (BA), Salesforce (CRM), and several more. Trump is currently in the Middle East and is set to speak with other key leaders in the coming days.
The President also announced that he will lift all U.S. sanctions on Syria in a stunning move. “In Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing many years,” said Trump. “That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.” Trump is set to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa tomorrow in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department has rescinded the AI Diffusion Rule just days before it was set to be enforced. The rule aimed to create a three-tier system for countries receiving U.S. chips. Trump will replace the rule with his own policy, although details have yet to be announced. In the meantime, the Bureau for Industry and Security (BIS) has released guidance for controlling AI chip exports, such as stating that the use of Huawei Ascend chips violates U.S. export controls.
The S&P 500 finished the day with a 0.72% gain while the Nasdaq 100 closed higher by 1.58%.
