Tech stocks rip to records on ceasefire relief

Records, but make it chaotic

U.S. stocks spent Wednesday acting like they had just discovered caffeine. The Nasdaq 100 surged to record territory, the S&P 500 flirted with its own high, and large-cap growth names kept doing the heavy lifting while smaller stocks mostly watched from the cheap seats.

The AI-and-earnings one-two punch

The real fuel here was the classic market cocktail: strong corporate results plus a lot of enthusiasm for anything vaguely tech-adjacent. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet all climbed, while Tesla traded higher ahead of its after-the-bell report. Translation: the market is still very willing to pay up for the companies it thinks can keep compounding through all the macro noise.

GE Vernova stole the show

The biggest headline mover was GE Vernova, which jumped sharply after guidance pointed to swelling data-center demand. That’s the kind of phrase Wall Street loves because it sounds like the future arriving in hard hats. Constellation Energy also got a lift, which tells you investors are still chasing the power buildout behind AI infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the other stuff happened too

Not everything was sunshine and semiconductor glow:

• Oil popped as the Strait of Hormuz remained blockaded despite the ceasefire extension
• Airlines got squeezed as jet fuel costs climbed
• A few travel and industrial names slumped even as the broader market looked celebratory

Big picture: this is a market that still wants to buy growth, buy AI, and buy anything tied to the energy needed to feed it. The geopolitics are messy, but for now, investors are treating them like background noise — until they aren’t.