Wall Street’s Nasdaq hits all-time high as AI frenzy gathers pace

Investors shrug off AI safety concerns and Iran war, sending market to a new peak.

Wall Street’s Nasdaq stock exchange has hit an all-time high, shrugging off concerns about AI safety risks, sky-high tech valuations and the energy shock caused by the United States’ war on Iran.

The Nasdaq Composite index, which is dominated by US tech giants such as Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, rose 0.45 percent on Tuesday, taking its gains to date this year to more than 17 percent.

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The Nasdaq 100, a narrower index that tracks 100 top companies, jumped 0.82 percent.

The S&P 500, the most popular measure of the overall US stock market, closed essentially flat.

Monolithic Power Systems, a Florida-based manufacturer of power circuits, and Canadian e-commerce company Shopify led the gains, surging 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.

Micron Technology, one of the world’s top three memory chip makers along with South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, rose 5 percent.

Chip giant Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, gained 0.7 percent, while Apple edged up 0.2 percent.

Meta Platforms, which soared 11.4 percent on Monday on excitement surrounding its new AI assistant Muse, dropped 0.63 percent.

Major Asian stock markets opened higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi up about 1.4 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, in morning trading.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened lower, falling more than 0.7 percent during the morning trade.

Futures for Brent crude, the international benchmark, were trading at $99.18 a barrel as of 01:00 GMT.