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WALL STREET'S STARGATE RALLY

Wall Street advanced and the S&P 500 nearly missed a record closing high on Wednesday, lifted by the inevitable euphoria that happens when the AI sector gets a $500 billion private sector booster shot, roughly equivalent to Norway's GDP.

All three major U.S. stock indexes advanced on the day, with the tech-laden Nasdaq .IXIC enjoying a nice 1.3% uptick.

The S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow's .DJI gains were more modest, rising 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.

The rally's leadership was narrow.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, only tech .SPLRCT and communication services sector .SPLRCL notched gains.

Megacap momentum stocks .NYFANG climbed 2.8%.

President Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank 9984.T and Oracle ORCL.N will form a joint venture called Stargate to invest billions in AI infrastructure.

Oracle ended the session up 6.7%, while the broader chip sector .SOX added 1.7% on the day.

Most companies with ties to the AI boom had a good session.

Netflix NFLX.O leaped 9.7% after the streaming pioneer, in its quarterly earnings release, reported record subscriber gains even amid subscription fee hikes.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N and Procter & Gamble PG.N posted consensus beating quarterly reports, but JNJ's sales forecast fell a tad shy of expectations. The drugmaker's shares dipped 1.9% on the day. For its part, PG gained 1.9%.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

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FOR WEDNESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

BOFA CLIENTS' NET BUYING STREAK EXTENDS TO 11 WEEKS - CLICK HERE

INFLATION RISKS MAY KEEP TRUMP FROM TRYING TO DEVALUE U.S. DOLLAR - CLICK HERE

MORTGAGE RATES DIP BUT NOT BELOW 7%; BORROWERS UNIMPRESSED - CLICK HERE

S&P 500 REACHING FOR THE STARS - CLICK HERE

PLAYING FTSE WITH THE DOW - CLICK HERE

DECIPHERING THE BOND MARKET'S UNUSUAL SELLOFF - CLICK HERE

WHY ITALIAN SMIDS WILL OUTPERFORM IN 2025 - CLICK HERE

TRUMP'S AI PLEDGE OUTWEIGHS TARIFF FEARS; STOXX AT RECORD - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES UP AS TRADERS DIGEST TRUMP COMMENTS - CLICK HERE

THEY DO KNOW STARGATE IS SCI-FI, RIGHT? - CLICK HERE