Cisco leads Wall Street to more records and the Dow back to 50,000

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NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rose to more records Thursday after Cisco Systems joined the parade of U.S. companies reporting fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent to set an all-time high for a second straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 370 points, or 0.7 per cent, and finished above the 50,000 level for the first time since the war with Iran began, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.9 per cent to its own record.

Cisco helped lead the market after reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The tech giant’s stock leaped 13.4 per cent for its best day in nearly 15 years, and CEO Chuck Robbins said it saw “very strong, broad-based demand for our products.”

Big Tech behemoths in particular are pouring cash into artificial-intelligence technology, and Cisco gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that easily topped analysts’ expectations.

Such voracious demand for AI, and the big profits it’s producing, have been major reasons the U.S. stock market has set records throughout this year. Cerebras Systems, an AI processor company, raised US$5.55 billion after selling its stock in an initial public offering, and its shares surged 68.1 per cent in their debut on the Nasdaq Thursday.

Corporate earnings reported so far this season have “reinforced that this is still an AI-led market, but one where the impact is broadening quickly,” according to Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist at BlackRock.

“What started with a handful of companies is now driving earnings growth across semiconductors, infrastructure, and even parts of the industrial economy,” she said.

Outside of AI, other stocks rallying after delivering better-than-expected profit reports included StubHub Holdings, up 13.7 per cent, Viking Holdings, up 5.5 per cent and Yeti Holdings, up 6.2 per cent.

All three companies sell products that aren’t day-to-day essentials, such as concert tickets, river cruises and insulated water bottles. Strong results from them could be an indicator that customers are still willing to spend even though U.S. consumers have been telling surveys they’re feeling discouraged about the economy.

Whether U.S. households will keep spending and support the economy is a big question because pressure has been bearing down on them due to high oil prices and inflation created by the Iran war. A report released Thursday said that shoppers overall spent less at U.S. retailers last month than economists expected. But the deceleration after factoring out gasoline and automobile sales wasn’t quite as bad as economists thought it would be.

A separate report, meanwhile, said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, which could be an indication of more layoffs. The number, though, remains relatively low compared with history.

Treasury yields flitted up and down in the bond market immediately after the reports, but they largely remained steady. The yield on the 10-year ticked up to 4.47 per cent from 4.46 per cent late Wednesday.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 56.99 points to 7,501.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 370.26 to 50,063.46, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 232.88 to 26,635.22.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.8 per cent to another record thanks to gains for AI-related stocks.

Stocks were virtually flat in Hong Kong and down 1.5 per cent in Shanghai as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing.

Some investors hope Trump could encourage Xi to use China’s close economic ties with Iran to get it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The strait’s closure because of the war has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide, which has driven up prices.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 0.1 per cent to settle at US$105.72 Thursday, and it remains well above its price of roughly US$70 from before the war.

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Stan Choe, The Associated Press. AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.