Wall Street closed in positive territory on Wednesday, 21 October, with the Nasdaq leading gains driven by the technology sector, after above-forecast results from SpaceX eased uncertainty over the sustainability of the global wave of investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Dow Jones added 0.69% to close at 52,857.10 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.60% to 7,758.53 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.05% to 26,702.86 points.

US equities ended the session higher, with the Nasdaq at the forefront of gains, buoyed by SpaceX, whose shares surged following the release of its results. Netflix, by contrast, recorded a decline after posting disappointing revenue and advertising forecasts.

“SpaceX could transform itself into more of an AI company than a space company. And that is exactly where we are. There is enormous growth potential in the AI business, given that AI infrastructure requires significant capital investment, and SpaceX certainly has more resources than many smaller companies currently facing mounting credit pressure. I am referring in particular to neocloud companies such as CoreWeave, whose default risk spiked last week,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote.

The United States Department of State clarified that it had ordered the departure of American personnel and their families only from Saudi Arabia, and not from the broader Gulf region.

The decision followed attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi territory, which explains why West Texas Intermediate crude edged down 0.21% to USD 97.61 per barrel.

The price of Brent crude for December delivery ended Wednesday’s session on the London futures market virtually unchanged, posting a marginal gain of 0.03% to USD 108.82 per barrel.