New York, May 29, 2026, 20:01 EDT
- S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq finished at new records. Dell jumped, sparking more AI buying.
- Dell, HPE and Super Micro took center stage in after-hours action, with extended trading wrapping up at 8 p.m. Eastern.
- The market, priced for strong growth, faces two big tests next week with the May jobs report and Broadcom earnings.
S&P 500 hit another record Friday, logging its ninth straight winning week. Traders bought AI-related names again, despite inflation holding up. Dell Technologies jumped 32.8% on a strong outlook, lifting server stocks across the board.
Wall Street moved higher again as investors stuck with bets tied to artificial intelligence spending, firmer earnings, and hopes that the Fed will hold off on hiking rates for now. The S&P 500 climbed 16.43 points, or 0.2%, to 7,580.06. The Dow rose 363.49 points, or 0.7%, to 51,032.46. The Nasdaq Composite added 55.15 points, or 0.2%, to 26,972.62, according to AP figures.
After-hours trading, where stocks trade from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern on Nasdaq, comes after the regular session ends. Volume in this window is usually lighter and prices can move more. Nasdaq lists its regular U.S. hours as 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and after-hours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Dell was last at $420.91 in late trading, gaining 32.8%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise traded at $43.04, up 12.7%. Super Micro Computer changed hands at $46.09, adding 11.6%.
Dell reported first-quarter revenue up 88% at $43.8 billion. AI-optimized server revenue jumped 757% to $16.1 billion. Chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said Dell booked $24.4 billion in AI orders. “AI opportunity shows no signs of slowing,” Clarke said. Business Wire
Dell’s gain pushed up server stocks, with Reuters saying the move sent Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Super Micro higher too. Microsoft added 5.4%, and the tech sector climbed 1.87%. “Euphoric sentiment in the market around AI,” said Ohsung Kwon, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo. Reuters
Chips and servers weren’t the only drivers for the rally. Oil eased, with traders waiting on U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks and a possible shipping break that could ease inflation worries. U.S. crude closed at $87.36 a barrel, Brent at $92.05, both down roughly 1.7%. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 4.441%.
The market left some stocks behind. Alphabet was down 2.5%, Costco slid 3.9%, and Walmart lost 2.6%, according to Reuters. The Russell 2000, focused on smaller firms, gave up 0.6%. Indexes looked solid for the day, but the underlying action was less clear.
Fed’s favored inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, climbed 3.8% for the year through April, marking its highest jump since May 2023, while first-quarter GDP growth got cut to a 1.6% annual rate. That has set up what Peter Cardillo at Spartan Capital Securities called a “stagflation problem,” with sluggish growth and prices moving up. Reuters
Stocks may be ahead of themselves. Strong jobs numbers, another surge in energy, or no deal with Iran could drive Treasury yields up and restart chatter about Fed hikes. Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, said traders had priced in about a 50-50 chance of a hike in the fourth quarter but said, “I don’t expect the Fed to do much of anything.” Reuters
Jobs data is up next. The May nonfarm payrolls report hits June 5 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Reuters is looking for 85,000 jobs added and unemployment at 4.3%.
Broadcom’s results are due next week and will gauge the AI trade, as the Philadelphia semiconductor index has jumped about 80% from its March 30 low, according to Reuters. Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, said a hot jobs report and higher inflation could make the Fed rethink policy; a cooler report, she said, might ease worries about tighter policy.
