US stocks hit records after the briefest of stumbles as gold’s price
keeps rising
[October 09, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got back to rising on Wednesday, while the
price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak
and set its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged
down by 1 point, or less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1%
to its own record.
Trading has been relatively muted recently following the U.S.
government’s latest shutdown. The closure has delayed the release of
several major economic reports that usually move the market. Stocks have
been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for
cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, one of the major reasons
the stock market has surged since April.
Another force that’s pushed the market to records is the frenzy around
artificial-intelligence technology.
Advanced Micro Devices jumped another 11.4% to add to its rally from
earlier in the week, when it announced an AI-related deal. AMD was the
best performing stock in the S&P 500.
Right behind was Dell Technologies, which piled more gains onto its own
rally from Tuesday, when it talked up its growth opportunities related
to AI. Dell rose 9.1%.
Poet Technologies climbed 17% and likewise added to its surge from
Tuesday, when it said it raised $75 million in investment to accelerate
its growth. The company sells high-speed optical engines and other
products used in the AI systems market.
AI-related stocks have broadly been on a tear. Nvidia has soared nearly
41% so far this year. Oracle is up 73.2% over the same time, while
Palantir Technologies has more than doubled with a nearly 143% surge.
The performances have been so strong that criticism is rising about
prices having gone too far, like they did during the 2000 dot-com mania.
That bubble ultimately imploded, and the S&P 500 halved in value.
Proponents say AI stocks are backed by big growth in profits, something
that many dot-com stocks didn’t have at the turn of the millennium. But
the Bank of England nevertheless warned Wednesday of the rising risk
that tech stock prices pumped up by the AI boom could face a “sudden
correction.”
“On a number of measures, equity market valuations appear stretched,
particularly for technology companies focused on Artificial
Intelligence,” policymakers at the U.K. central bank said in a report.
With Big Tech companies accounting for an increasingly outsized share of
stock market indexes, stocks are “particularly exposed should
expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic.”
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James Bodner, center, and others work on the floor at the New York
Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth
Wenig)
 Elsewhere on Wall Street, AST
SpaceMobile jumped 8.6% after Verizon Communications agreed to use
its space-based network to offer service to cellular customers when
needed, starting in 2026. Verizon slipped 0.2%.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Jefferies Financial Group,
which fell 7.9%. The investment bank disclosed some details about
its exposure to First Brands Group, a supplier of aftermarket auto
parts that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 39.13 points to 6,753.72. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average slipped 1.20 to 46,601.78, and the Nasdaq
composite rose 255.02 to 23,043.38.
Gold, meanwhile, continued its stellar year and rose further past
$4,000 per ounce. Investors have traditionally seen gold as a way to
protect against rising inflation, and its price has soared more than
50% this year.
Worries are high about big debt loads that the U.S. and other
governments are building, which threaten to push inflation higher.
Political instability around the world, uncertainty created by
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and expectations for rate cuts by
the Fed are also pushing up interest in gold.
The Fed cut its main interest rate for the first time this year last
month, and it hinted that more reductions may be on the way. Minutes
from that last meeting released on Wednesday showed growing concerns
among Fed officials about the slowing job market.
Lower rates could help boost the job market and economy, but Fed
officials say they’re also staying mindful of inflation, which
remains above the Fed's target of 2%. Lower rates can give inflation
more fuel.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a weaker
finish in Asia.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.12%
from 4.14% late Tuesday.
___
AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Kelvin Chan
contributed.
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