S&P 500, Nasdaq boosted by chips to record closing highs

S&P 500, Nasdaq boosted by chips to record closing highs

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Wed May 13, 2026

There was a huge sell off in the morning on the Dow, with the index losing over 300 points by 11 a.m. and then bouncing back to only modest losses by close. But all those funds transferred to the tech sector with both the Nasdaq and S&P soaring all day, both indexes achieving new records, almost exclusively due to AI. Today’s AI comeback was enough for investors to turn a blind eye to the PPI data which was way higher than expected, showing the biggest increase in prices in four years.  

All the inflation indicators have come in much hotter than expected this week dousing hopes for any foreseeable rate cut. The hot inflation numbers are almost solely due to oil prices and, with the war having no end in sight, today the markets began to acknowledge the fears that oil inflation is indeed seeping into other areas of the economy. As today’s expert said, “I would just be careful not to overlook the risk of a more prolonged period of inflation and elevated interest rates.” Volume came in at 19.03 billion, again ahead of the 18.12 average. 

DJ: 49,760.56  +56.09         NAS: 26,088.20  -185.92         S&P: 7,400.96  -11.88           5/12

DJ: 49,693.20  -67.36          NAS: 26,402.34  +314.14        S&P: 7,444.25 43.29             5/13

Wed 5-13-26 4:30 pm S&P 500, Nasdaq boosted by chips to record closing highs | Reuters