Finance

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose over 2% today, led by significant gains in semiconductor companies such as Intel and Lam Research. Analysts attribute this strength to an ongoing capital expenditure supercycle in artificial intelligence infrastructure, which is expected to account for roughly 60% of earnings growth this quarter.

The Russell 2000 index is on track to record its best first-half performance since 1991, having surged more than 21% so far this year. This rally represents a significant broadening of the market beyond large-cap technology firms, driven by improving fundamentals and the ripple effects of the AI investment boom.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rebounded to 4.40% following strong labor market data that showed the highest number of job openings in two years. This economic resilience has fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve may maintain or even raise interest rates later this year to address persistent core inflation.