Global Business Weekend: Record Highs, AI Shake-ups, Oil Bears & Major Deals

Global markets surged mid-week as enthusiasm around artificial intelligence converged with encouraging economic signals. On Wednesday Aug. 13, Wall Street’s major indexes hit fresh records – the S&P 500 notched a new all-time closing high for the second straight day and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also set a record, buoyed in part by AI-driven gains reuters.com reuters.com. Cooling inflation data reinforced hopes the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates, turbocharging risk appetite in equities reuters.com investopedia.com. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1% to approach its first record close since last year investopedia.com. “Valuations are elevated… at the end of the day, the key will be delivery of earnings,” noted Katherine Bordlemay of Goldman Sachs, suggesting investors are now looking for real results to justify sky-high AI valuations reuters.com. Smaller stocks joined the rally – the Russell 2000 index surged 2% to its highest level of 2025 as investors piled into growth plays investopedia.com investopedia.com.