USA: Stocks Extend Strong Momentum.

US equities closed higher on Wednesday, building on Tuesday’s momentum as the S&P 500 added 0.9%, the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.4%, and the Dow 0.7%. Investor focus centered on Nvidia, which climbed 1.4% ahead of its highly anticipated earnings report scheduled after the bell. Software stocks spearheaded the rally, with Oracle jumping 1.2% following a bullish upgrade, while Microsoft and Palantir gained 3% and 4.2%, respectively. Skepticism over AI service models continued to fade after Anthropic’s new integrations positioned AI as a partner rather than a threat to legacy software. Meanwhile, AMD lost 1.4% paring Tuesday's 9% surge after Meta unveiled a multiyear agreement to deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s graphics processing units. Geopolitical focus remained on the new 10% global import duty implemented Tuesday, though President Trump’s State of the Union address prioritized domestic retirement and housing proposals over further immediate tariff hikes.