Double record on Wall Street: S&P 500 and Nvidia rise by

The US stock markets continued their advance on Tuesday. The S&P 500 hit a new record high for the first time since August, while Nvidia also rose to a new record high. Investors are supported by falling oil prices and a slightly lower US interest rate. At the same time, optimism around artificial intelligence remains a key driver behind the stock market rally.

The S&P 500 rose by about 0.6 percent to over 7,800 points shortly after the opening. With this, the most important US stock market index reached a new record for the first time since August. The Nasdaq Composite also gained about 0.6 percent and also reached a record level. The Dow Jones rose about 0.5 percent.

Nine of the eleven sectors within the S&P 500 were higher. Utilities and technology stocks did particularly well. An even-weighted version of the S&P 500, in which large companies are less important, was also able to keep up with the rise in the ordinary index.

That's important. For a long time, the stock market rally was mainly driven by a small group of giant technology companies. Tuesday's movement shows that the desire to buy is broadening.

In doing so, investors receive help from the bond and oil market. The yield on US government bonds with a ten-year maturity fell by more than two basis points to 5.28 percent. At the same time, the price of oil fell by more than two percent.

This combination is beneficial for shares. A lower oil price reduces the pressure on consumers and companies. Falling bond yields also make equities relatively more attractive.

Nvidia is also continuing the record hunt. The share rose by more than one percent on Tuesday and reached a new record of 243.37 dollars during trading. With this, the market value of the American chip giant is approaching the limit of 6 trillion dollars.

Nvidia is one of the main drivers of the rise in the S&P 500 this year. The share has increased by about 28 percent since the beginning of 2026. This added about 1.2 trillion dollars in market value.

Nvidia's performance shows how important artificial intelligence still is for Wall Street. Investors are counting on the billions invested in data centers and chips to ultimately lead to strong earnings growth at technology companies.

Other chip companies are also benefiting from these expectations. AMD was higher on Tuesday after top woman Lisa Su indicated that the demand for chips will probably remain “very high” in the coming years.

The optimism is further supported by the expectations for the upcoming earnings season. Analysts expect earnings growth of about 30 percent at companies in the S&P 500, according to data from LSEG. A large part of this is related to artificial intelligence.

The S&P 500 is now about 14 percent higher than at the beginning of the year. Nevertheless, there are signs below the surface that not all investors are fully convinced of a further increase.

Non-commercial market participants sold nearly $70 billion worth of futures contracts on the S&P 500 over the past six weeks. According to Bloomberg, this is one of the largest reductions in positions in about fifteen years. Similar movements were previously visible in turbulent stock market years such as 2020 and 2022.

At the same time, the image is not negative everywhere. According to Citigroup, positioning in futures contracts on the Nasdaq 100 improved more than in other major equity markets last week. Smaller American companies are more pessimistic. Investors built up more positions benefiting from a fall in the Russell 2000.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate policy also remains important. Weaker US labour market figures have reduced the expectation of a rapid rate hike. Traders estimate the probability that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged this month at around 78 percent.

In the coming weeks, the focus will mainly shift to the business results. They must show whether the high expectations around artificial intelligence and the strong rise in shares such as Nvidia are actually supported by further earnings growth.