NEW YORK (VINnews)-The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed higher Wednesday, lifted by strong quarterly results from CoreWeave and other artificial intelligence infrastructure companies, while milder-than-feared inflation figures reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to finish at 7,748.50. The Nasdaq gained 0.54% to 26,588.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.04% to 53,770.27.

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CoreWeave shares surged 19% after the AI cloud computing company reported second-quarter results that topped estimates and raised its annual capital spending outlook. Revenue reached $2.58 billion, more than double the year-earlier figure, with a sales backlog of $104 billion. Super Micro Computer also jumped 19% after forecasting fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations. Other data-center and AI-related names advanced, including Nebius Group, which climbed 34%, IREN, which gained nearly 10%, and Applied Digital, which rose 4.9%. Chipmakers participated in the rally, with Nvidia up 3% and Micron Technology higher by 4.9%.

U.S. consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July, the Labor Department said, after a 0.4% decline the previous month. The annual inflation rate eased to 3.4% from 3.5% in June. Gasoline prices fell for a second consecutive month, helping keep overall price pressures contained. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, stood at 2.5% year over year.

“The numbers came in right in line. The market’s reaction is slightly positive because the market was fearful it was going to come in worse than it did,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. “You’re seeing a market thinking that the Fed is not being pushed toward a rate hike.”

Traders now assign roughly a 62% probability that the Fed will hold rates steady in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from a more even split between a hold and a hike before the inflation data.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by real estate and information technology. The Cboe Volatility Index fell to 14.45, its lowest level since January. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by about 1.7 to 1 on relatively light volume.

The gains marked a rebound for AI-related shares after recent volatility and left the S&P 500 up about 13% for the year.