By Johann M Cherian and Avinash P
Sept 25 (Reuters) - AstWall Street's main indexes inched higher on Friday as AI optimism buoyed sentiment despite elevated oil prices and rising Treasury yields, while investors watched efforts to secure a deal to end the Middle East conflict.
Microsoft shares rose 3% and were the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after the software giant unveiled several new capabilities in its Copilot app, including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent.
Chip makers Micron and Marvell
Technology gained about 1% each, while Nvidia was marginally higher.
AI-related optimism was a key driver this week, aided by Meta's Muse and its integrated device, Charm, gaining traction among young consumers. Some analysts pointed to it as a product of the massive spending on the technology. The stock eased 2.8% from gains earlier this week.
"The amount of money being deployed into the economy from AI investment is just so strong, and we haven't even seen the productivity piece of it," said Jamie Harris, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. "There's a little bit of that the market is weighing into the valuation and that's one of the reasons why you really can't get much of a selloff."
At 9:59 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 226.73 points, or 0.44%, to 51,576.71, the S&P 500 gained 22.49 points, or 0.29%, to 7,726.62 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 109.38 points, or 0.41%, to 27,048.75.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, and were offset by a 1% gain in technology — the week's best-performing sector. Both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were set for weekly advances.
A report that US and Iranian negotiators continued to explore a phased path out of the war, which would involve Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting its economic blockade, helped market sentiment.
Optimism, however, was capped by inflation worries driven by prolonged Iran and Ukraine conflicts and soaring government debt. Brent crude prices hovered over $100 a barrel and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 5.1%.
Traders now see a 64% chance that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates by at least 25 basis points in October, up from around 50% earlier this week, the CME Group's FedWatch Tool showed.
Remarks from policymakers such as John Williams, Jeffrey Schmid and Beth Hammack are anticipated later in the day.
With the US-China summit in focus, President Donald Trump said he had a "very productive meeting" with President Xi Jinping. Trump also made it clear to Xi that Chinese help for Iran was unacceptable, said the US ambassador to China.
Akamai Technologies surged 8% after an $11.6 billion cloud services deal with AI leader Anthropic. People jumped 8% after a report said MGM Resorts International was discussing a bid for the online services company.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.27-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and 27 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 80 new lows.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Avinash P; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Joyjeet Das)
