Markets News, May 14, 2025: S&P 500 Inches Higher, Nasdaq Composite Rises for 6th Straight Day as Nvidia, Tesla and AMD Surge

Big gains for big-name technology stocks on Wednesday pushed the Nasdaq Composite to its sixth consecutive winning session, while the benchmark S&P 500 managed to close slightly higher.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.7% and the S&P 500 added 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2%. Stocks had gotten off to a strong start this week as investors welcomed news that the U.S. and China slashed the massive tariffs they had imposed on one another, and following a government report showing that the annual rate of inflation hit a four-year low in April.

The S&P 500 yesterday climbed back into positive territory for 2025, the first time that had happened since early March. The Nasdaq, with its gain today, is now less than 1% below where it started the year, as the index has soared 30% since hitting its low for the year on April 7. The Dow is a bit more than 1% away from turning positive for 2025.

AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and EV maker Tesla (TSLA), which each rose more than 5% yesterday, surged another 4% today to lead mega-cap tech stocks. Alphabet (GOOG) advanced nearly 4%, while Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) also gained ground. Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Broadcom (AVGO) were slightly lower.

Among other noteworthy tech sector movers, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped more than 4% after the chip company announced a new $6 billion stock buyback program. Server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) led S&P 500 advancers, soaring 16% for the second consecutive day after announcing a $20 billion deal with Saudi Arabian data center company DataVolt. Shares of data analytics software company Palantir (PLTR) rose 1.6% to close at a record high for the second straight day.