S&P 500 Closes at 7,498, Nasdaq at 26,628 — Nvidia Hits $5.7 Trillion as U.S. Clears H200 Chip Sales to China
Thursday brought fresh all-time highs for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, driven by one headline: the U.S. approving roughly 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia's H200 AI chip. Nvidia jumped nearly 4%, dragging tech up 2.1% on the session. Meanwhile, inflation data that should be scaring markets is getting buried under the rally narrative.
The Numbers First The S&P 500 closed Thursday at 7,498.10 , up 0.72%, according to FXEmpire. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.86% to close at 26,628.07 . The Dow Jones rose 361 points, or 0.73%, to 50,054 — hovering near its own all-time high. Those are closing numbers. Intraday, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pushed even higher — the S&P touched 7,515.60 and the Nasdaq hit 26,696.82 before pulling back slightly, according to The Globe and Mail. That's a meaningful step up from Wednesday's closes of 7,444 on the S&P and approximately 26,400 on the Nasdaq. What Drove It: One Nvidia Headline Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources, that the U.S. government has cleared approximately 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI chip — the company's second-most powerful processor. That was enough. Nvidia jumped nearly 4% , pushing its market valuation to approximately $5.7 trillion . The VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbed 2%. Technology became the session's strongest sector by a wide margin, up 2.1% . Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer at Northlight Asset Management, told The Globe and Mail: "Nvidia has clearly been a big beneficiary, both from the China announcement and from the broader artificial intelligence theme." He also offered a caution: "We just think investors may be pulling a little too much forward from the future." Cisco Is Still a Story Our previous coverage noted Cisco's post-earnings surge. Thursday's session confirmed it wasn't a flash. Cisco closed up 14.4% to an all-time high , according to FXEmpire. The catalyst: a plan to cut nearly 4,000 jobs paired with a raised full-year revenue forecast driven by hyperscale data center demand. Job cuts plus higher guidance might seem contradictory, but Cisco is reallocating headcount toward AI infrastructure buildout, and the market read it correctly. The Inflation Numbers According to Stocktwits, the producer price index rose 6% year-over-year in April — the highest in four years, topping every estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The monthly advance was the sharpest since 2022. Core PPI was up 5.2% from April 2025 , the most in over three years. Retail sales rose 0.5% in April , in line with estimates, per The Globe and Mail. But the outlet notes that part of that rise reflects higher inflation — particularly energy prices elevated by the ongoing Iran conflict — rather than genuine consumer strength. Two hot inflation prints in one week — CPI and PPI both running high — and markets shrugged. The focus remained on the technology sector rally. The Fed Chair Nobody's Discussing Buried in Wednesday's news: the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the 17th Chair of the Federal Reserve , succeeding Jerome Powell, according to Stocktwits. Warsh has publicly advocated for lower rates. With PPI at a four-year high and CPI still elevated, markets are not pricing in rate cuts anytime soon. The new Fed chair takes office amid elevated inflation pressures, complicating the path for any near-term rate reductions. Trump-Xi Summit: Background Noise for Now President Trump is in the middle of a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi told Trump trade negotiations are "making progress," according to The Globe and Mail. He also warned that Taiwan tensions could put relations on a "dangerous path" and risk conflict. Markets aren't pricing in Taiwan risk right now. They're pricing in H200 chip sales to China. Those two things could eventually be in direct tension with each other. What It Means for Regular People If you have a 401(k), the number went up Thursday. But the inflation eating into groceries, energy bills, and paychecks is also real — and it's unlikely to disappear because Nvidia had a good day. The Fed's new chair can't cut rates into a 6% PPI without risking further inflation acceleration. The rally is happening alongside elevated inflation. Both are true at the same time. The gains in stock values are real, but so are the pressures on purchasing power.
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