Caitlin McCabe

America's AI buildout is helping stocks Thursday, but not in all the usual places.

Caterpillar shares jumped 10%, pushing the Dow industrials about 1.5% higher in afternoon trading. The construction-equipment company raised its full-year outlook after reporting results juiced by strong demand from AI-supporting data centers.

The Nasdaq composite meanwhile up about 0.5% after quarterly results from some of America's biggest tech companies. Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Amazon all reported bumper earnings yesterday, partly thanks to the proliferation of artificial-intelligence tools.

Yet not all investors were satisfied, with the tech stocks diverging. Meta shares fell 9% after the Facebook owner said it would spend more money on AI data centers. Microsoft slumped 5% on its own cost concerns. Alphabet rose 9% after the Google parent reported a boom in its cloud business.

The S&P 500 rose about 0.8%, but its technology sector was down on the day, weighed down by a 4% drop in Nvidia. Investors will get another readout from Big Tech when Apple reports earnings after today's close.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed that higher energy prices from the war in Iran ratcheted up pricing pressures in March. First-quarter GDP also came in weaker than economists expected, as consumer spending slowed.

In energy markets, oil prices jumped overnight before giving up gains. The initial move higher came after Axios reported that President Trump is set to be briefed on new military options for Iran aimed at breaking the deadlock in peace talks. U.S. oil futures slipped about 1.7% to around $105 a barrel.

In Europe, both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England joined the Fed in holding borrowing costs steady.

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April 30, 2026 14:21 ET (18:21 GMT)

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