Tech Carries Wall Street to Records    05/13 15:36

   A rebound for technology stocks led Wall Street to records Wednesday, even 
though the majority of U.S. stocks fell following another discouraging update 
on inflation.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- A rebound for technology stocks led Wall Street to records 
Wednesday, even though the majority of U.S. stocks fell following another 
discouraging update on inflation.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and topped its prior all-time high set at the start of 
the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67 points, or 0.1%, while the 
Nasdaq composite set its own record after climbing 1.2%.

   Gains for tech stocks led the way, like Micron Technology's 4.8% and On 
Semiconductor's 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly 
halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

   Nvidia, the chip company that was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 
2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its 
immense size. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Donald 
Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of 
Nvidia AI chips to the world's second-largest economy.

   Earlier in the day, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. said that its profit for 
the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year 
as its AI investments paid off. China's Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud 
growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and its stock that trades in the 
United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts' 
expectations.

   But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as 
pressure builds on Wall Street.

   "Corporate earnings and AI momentum are acting as the market's primary shock 
absorbers, but the road is getting significantly rougher," said Tim Waterer, 
chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

   A report on Wednesday showed that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was 
considerably worse last month than economists expected. That followed a report 
on Tuesday showing accelerating inflation at the U.S. consumer level.

   Prices are rising for fuel, transportation and all kinds of other things 
because of tariffs, bad weather affecting food prices and other reasons. But 
atop them all is the jump in oil prices created by the war with Iran, which has 
slowed the global flow of crude to customers worldwide.

   On Wednesday, oil prices moved more modestly following big gains early in 
the week, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 2% to settle at 
$105.63.

   But it remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war, and 
the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that oil inventories worldwide 
are depleting at a record pace. The resulting jump in oil prices has forced 
traders to give up most hopes for a cut to interest rates this year by the 
Federal Reserve. If anything, a hike to rates seems like the next-best bet 
after no move in rates this year.

   Wall Street generally loves lower rates because they would give the economy 
a boost by making mortgages and other loans cheaper. They can also push upward 
on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments, but the downside is 
they can worsen inflation.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Tuesday 
and is well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

   The rise in yields helped send stocks of utilities and real-estate owners to 
some of the sharper losses in the S&P 500. Such companies tend to pay 
relatively big dividends, which become less attractive to investors looking for 
income when bonds are paying more in interest.

   American Electric Power fell 3% after announcing a $2.6 billion offering of 
its stock.

   Elsewhere on Wall Street, Birkenstock Holding dropped 12.9% after the 
British company said its results for the latest quarter were hurt by U.S. 
tariffs and other factors.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 43.29 points to 7,444.25. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dipped 67.36 to 49,693.20, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 
314.14 to 26,402.34.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

   South Korea's Kospi led the way with a jump of 2.6%. It had sunk 2.3% the 
day before, after a senior figure in the administration suggested the 
government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens. 
That sapped momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.