Dow closes above 50,000, Nvidia soars as traders focus on AI spending
<body><p>STORY: The Dow Jones Industrial Average blew past the historic 50,000 mark on Friday, climbing nearly 2.5%, while the S&P 500 gained about 2% and the Nasdaq added more than 2%.</p><p>Chip stocks led the way, rallying on expectations they would benefit from increased spending on AI data centers by Amazon and Alphabet.</p><p>Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom all surged, each adding roughly between 7 and 8%.</p><p>Friday's stock rally followed three straight days of losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, marked by worries about AI.</p><p>Several software companies were hit by concerns that AI could create more competition, while investors also fretted about Big Tech's high stock valuations.</p><p>Chris Brigati is chief investment officer at SWBC.</p><p>"I think that the bounce back is somewhat of a foregone conclusion in terms of, we did have some pretty remarkable sell-offs and weakness. And I think at some point the market finding some stabilization, an area for buyers to step in and capture some good opportunity to put cash to work at lower levels is really kind of driving the bus. And my perspective, when I'm looking at opportunities, and opportunities for pullback are really important to observe. We have one of those right now. I don't think it's necessarily over completely, but I do think there is opportunity in the space.”</p><p>One outlier was Amazon, with shares dropping about 5.5% after the company said it planned a more than 50% jump in AI spending this year. That followed a similar announcement from Alphabet on Wednesday.</p><p>Among other movers, shares of Molina Healthcare lost more than 25% after the health insurer forecast 2026 profit at less than half of Wall Street's expectations.</p><p>:: Hims & Hers Handout</p><p>And shares of online telehealth company Hims & Hers fell more than 12% in extended trading after the FDA said it plans to restrict GLP-1 ingredients used in non-approved compounded drugs.</p><p>:: Novo Nordisk</p><p>The announcement came one day after Hims said it would begin offering a compounded version of Novo Nordisk's new Wegovy pill at a lower price.</p></body>