S&P 500 Finally Clears 7,000 as Chip Stocks Lead the Charge

Investor’s Business Daily, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Business Insider, Axios, Market Watch, and the Financial Times contributed to this report.

Wall Street hit a milestone on Wednesday: the S&P 500 topped 7,000 for the first time, buoyed by a fresh rally in chip and semiconductor stocks – and a lot of hopeful eyeballs on tonight’s Federal Reserve decision and a slate of mega-cap tech earnings.

The index hit an intraday high of 7,002.28 and was last up about 0.1% after an early-session pop. The Nasdaq climbed as well, while the Dow stayed roughly flat.

What jumped was the chip complex. Seagate shares surged after the storage company beat Q2 expectations and said AI-driven demand for data storage is strong – the stock jumped more than 17% intraday. ASML, the Dutch maker of the most advanced chipmaking tools, reported record orders and upbeat guidance for 2026, which sent semiconductor suppliers broadly higher. Nvidia got a lift, too, after news that some big Chinese firms won approval to buy its H200 AI chips; the chip giant was up more than 1%, and names like Micron and TSMC also posted gains.

The dollar’s wobble added fuel to risk appetite. The greenback tumbled sharply on Tuesday – its worst one-day slide since last April – and is off more than 10% over the past year. That move dialed up risk-on flows into equities, though the dollar did bounce a bit Wednesday.

All that said, traders aren’t partying like it’s 1999: they want clues from the Fed. The central bank is widely expected to hold its benchmark rate at 3.5%–3.75% tonight, but markets will be scanning Chair Jerome Powell for any hint about future easing. Fed funds futures were pricing in the possibility of a couple of quarter-point cuts by the end of 2026.

“The US economic outlook remains positive,” said Christian Hantel of Vontobel, noting growth and a stabilized labor market – but he warned inflation is still running above target, so immediate cuts aren’t likely. Investors will be watching the March and June FOMC meetings for real policy moves, he added.

On the corporate front, the earnings calendar is thick: Microsoft, Meta and Tesla report after the bell, with Apple due on Thursday. Outside of chips, Starbucks grabbed headlines after reporting that store traffic grew for the first time in two years and beating revenue estimates – its shares jumped on the news.

Bottom line: Wednesday’s pop put the S&P at a new psychological mark, driven by an AI-fueled chip rally and a softer dollar – but the market’s next moves likely hinge on what the Fed says tonight and whether big tech delivers the kinds of beats investors are betting on.