Shares of technology companies rose sharply as rate fears receded, and the artificial-intelligence rally resumed.
Tesla shares jumped as Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker scheduled a Cybercab event in Austin, Texas, late Thursday, stoking expectations that the robotaxi was ready for commercial launch.
Snowflake rallied after the software maker said sales of an AI-powered computer-coding agent bolstered sales growth.
One strategist said initial fears that AI would render software-as-a-service companies like Snowflake redundant have eased in cases where "AI adoption increases demand for what they provide rather than substituting for it."
"The companies vulnerable to SaaSmageddon share a specific characteristic: their value proposition is largely a...solution performing a task that AI agents can now perform directly, with limited defensibility beyond the software interface itself," said technology strategist Luke Lango, in e-mailed commentary.
China's Moonshot AI confidentially submitted an application for an initial public offering to Hong Kong's stock exchange.
Soitec shares rallied after the French semiconductor-materials maker lifted its revenue projection for the current quarter as the race to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure continues to fuel demand for its products.