The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 50,000 for the first time on Thursday, with all three major indexes posting similar gains of approximately 1% by midday. As of 12:17 p.m. ET, the Nasdaq-100 increased by 1%, the S&P 500 rose 1%, and the Dow was a rounding error away from 1% at a 0.94% gain. The session began unevenly with the Nasdaq-100 opening flat, the S&P 500 starting up 0.3%, and the Dow opening with a 0.8% gain, but all three indexes converged around 0.5% by 10:30 a.m. ET and climbed steadily from there. The Dow Jones is now positioned only 500 points away from its own record high of 50,512, marking a significant recovery in market sentiment. As per multiple reports, Thursday's move put the Dow Jones on course for its best single-day performance in several weeks, with the 30-stock index being price-weighted, meaning a high-priced stock's percentage move carries outsized influence.
Nvidia emerged as the standout performer, surging 4.3% with shares hitting $235.63 and adding $248 billion to its market cap. The company's gains were boosted by U.S. regulators approving Nvidia's request to sell H200 AI accelerators in the Chinese market, with CEO Jensen Huang following President Trump on a state visit to China. Broadcom also contributed significantly, rising 25% year-to-date, reflecting the market's continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Cisco Systems stole the show on a percentage basis, jumping 17% on earnings, though with a $456 billion market cap, it isn't heavy enough to move the S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100 needles by much. The Dow passed the 50,000 milestone quietly, with high-priced heavyweights Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar doing most of the work as usual. The market's message remains clear: it really, really likes artificial intelligence, with Nvidia having gained more than 26% year to date.
US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, discussing various issues including trade tariffs, Taiwan, Iran, and AI — the full architecture of US-China strategic competition. According to CNBC TV18, the Chinese President told Trump that Taiwan remains the most important issue in US-China relations and needs to be handled well for the relationship to survive. Crucially, both sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open, a statement that briefly eased fears about energy supply disruptions and oil price spikes. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20% of global oil traffic, with the DJ Oil & Gas sector rising 0.33% Thursday as a measured but telling reaction to the summit's early signals. As per CNBC TV18, the diplomatic framework that acknowledges the Strait's importance — even without binding commitments — is the kind of forward-looking language that keeps crude prices from spiking further. However, the Iranian conflict's massive impact on oil prices and world markets barely showed up in Thursday's headlines, with the Strait of Hormuz barely appearing in headlines despite its massive market implications.
Cerebras Systems achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first pureplay AI IPO to hit Wall Street and the biggest US Tech IPO since Uber in 2019. As reported by CNBC TV18, the company sold 30 million shares in its IPO on Wednesday, raising $5.5 billion, with the stock jumping 68% in its trading debut on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of $95 billion. Additionally, retail sales rose for the third straight month in April, with the value of retail purchases rising 0.5% compared to the revised figure of 1.6% in March. However, as per CNBC TV18, the composition of that growth deserves scrutiny, with gas station sales jumping 2.8% — the single largest contributor by category — driven by elevated energy prices rather than underlying consumer demand. Nine out of the 13 categories analyzed showed an increase in April, though these figures are not adjusted for inflation.
