Sept 10 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq scaled fresh intraday record highs on Wednesday driven by a surge in cloud computing firm Oracle, while cooler-than-expected inflation data kept the U.S. Federal Reserve on track to cut borrowing costs this year.
Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab soared 41% to an all-time high and was set for its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1992 after the tech company pointed to a demand surge from AI firms for its cloud services.
Its stock market value reached $969 billion - leapfrogging those of Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab and Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab - and is approaching Tesla's (TSLA.O), opens new tab $1.14-trillion market value.
Chip stocks gained, with Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab rising 4.3%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab up 3.8% and Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab adding 9.6%.
The gains boosted the S&P 500 technology sector (.SPLRCT), opens new tab 2.1%, while the broader semiconductor index (.SOX), opens new tab rose 2.6% to touch a record high.
Data center power suppliers also benefited, with Constellation Energy (CEG.O), opens new tab up 8%, Vistra (VST.N), opens new tab advancing 9% and GE Vernova (GEV.N), opens new tab rising 6.2%.
A cooler-than-expected producer prices reading provided additional momentum as traders shored up their bets on interest-rate cuts this year.
Recent labor market data has confirmed the U.S. jobs market is in a slowdown, cementing expectations for at least a quarter-point rate cut in September.
Bets on a 25-basis-point reduction at the Fed's September 16-17 meeting stood at 90%, while those on a larger 50-bps cut were at about 10%, CME's FedWatch tool showed.
Declines in consumer discretionary and healthcare stocks weighed on the Dow.
At 11:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 197.88 points, or 0.43%, to 45,513.46, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 32.77 points, or 0.50%, to 6,545.38, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 93.85 points, or 0.43%, to 21,973.34.
Investors will now focus on the consumer prices reading, due on Thursday, for insights on where U.S. inflation is headed.
"Combining the softer data (PPI figures) with the Fed's increased emphasis on the labor market side and the growing trend we've seen in downward revisions to the monthly employment data - all support the expectation for a rate cut," said Jordan Rizzuto, CIO at GammaRoad Capital Partners.
Rizzuto said any upside inflation with Thursday's CPI report could disrupt the bets on Fed rate cuts in 2025.
Meanwhile, in a legal setback for the White House, a federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump from removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Wall Street has had a broadly positive start to September - a month deemed historically bad for U.S. equities - with the benchmark index losing 1.5% on average since 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG.
However, brokerages including Barclays and Deutsche Bank have raised their 2025 year-end targets for the S&P 500.
Synopsys (SNPS.O), opens new tab slid 33.7% and was set for its biggest one-day decline on record after the chip design software provider missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Wednesday. Peer Cadence Design Systems (CDNS.O), opens new tab fell 7%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.49-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 97 new highs and 43 new lows.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
