NEW YORK, June 2, 2026, 11:17 EDT
- U.S. stock markets stayed on regular hours, with Nasdaq open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. The next scheduled closure is for Juneteenth on June 19, 2026.
- Dow was up slightly late morning, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq also ticking higher.
- HPE and Marvell shares rose, helping lead the AI sector higher, while Alphabet dropped after a big equity sale.
Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 49.34 points, or 0.10%, to 51,128.22 in late morning Tuesday, staying close to record highs. Investors weighed fresh AI enthusiasm against new concerns about spending for the sector’s growth. The S&P 500 added 0.15% to 7,611.37. Nasdaq advanced 0.19% to 27,137.51.
Rally narrows as investors split bets on AI stocks
The rally is now a test of faith. People still want to be in AI, but Tuesday’s trading showed a divide. Hardware and infrastructure suppliers gained, but Alphabet, one of the top spenders, fell.
The Dow is made up of 30 big U.S. stocks and carries less tech weight than the Nasdaq. But it’s caught up in the same question: can corporate earnings and AI investment keep supporting U.S. stocks after a stretch of fresh records?
Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 26% after it brought its long-term financial targets ahead by two years. Super Micro Computer added 5.6%. Marvell Technology gained 22% after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called it the next “trillion dollar company,” which pushed the Philadelphia semiconductor index up 3%, according to Reuters. Reuters
HPE reported a 40% jump in quarterly revenue to $10.7 billion, with Cloud & AI revenue up 22.9%. CEO Antonio Neri described “healthy demand” and said customers are “scaling AI.” The company lifted its fiscal 2026 free cash flow goal to at least $3.5 billion. Free cash flow is the money left after business operations and capital spending. Business Wire
Alphabet moved the other way. The Google parent plans to raise $80 billion in equity, with $10 billion coming from a Berkshire Hathaway private placement, to pay for AI infrastructure. Bill Stone, chief investment officer at Glenview Trust Company, said Berkshire’s purchase meant Greg Abel likely saw a “reasonable return” for Alphabet on its AI spending. But with the share sale, dilution risk is back on the table for investors. Reuters
Carson Group’s chief market strategist Ryan Detrick called recent moves proof of “insatiable” AI demand. His take offered some support to the broader market, while shares of Salesforce, ServiceNow and Intuit slipped after bouncing back in previous sessions. Reuters
Job openings in the U.S. climbed by 731,000 to 7.618 million in April, the JOLTS report from the Labor Department showed. That’s the highest since May 2024. But hiring slid to 5.116 million. JOLTS, or the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, is a key data point for the Fed as it weighs labor demand and possible rate moves. A stronger labor market can make it harder for the Fed to justify rate cuts.
But the risk is clear. If Alphabet’s capital raise turns into a model instead of a one-off, it could push investors to question if AI will pay off for a sector that might need a lot more cash. Tensions in the Middle East still hang over the market. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT, said Monday that investors “don’t really know where things stand,” which points to the threat of higher oil prices driving inflation and rates. Reuters
For now, the Dow is steady. The market doesn’t look like investors are giving up on AI—just that they’re getting pickier about which companies foot the bill for AI and which ones see the profits.
