S&P 500, Nasdaq close higher, lifted by Alphabet rally, but economic concerns limit gain

Tech shares gave the S&P 500 a boost, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day in the red.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 6,448.26, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed by 1% to end the session at 21,497.31 The Dow dipped 25 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 45,271.23.

— Yun Li

If investor expectations around artificial intelligence spending stay exuberant, the market should see gains following a seasonally weak period, according to Wolfe Research.

"We believe that as long as cracks don't begin to form within AI spending expectations, stocks will continue to grind higher after the seasonally weaker September period," said Chris Senyek, Wolfe's chief investment strategist.

"However, these lofty expectations can cut both ways as we see AI spending expectations as a key risk for 2026," he also said.

— Sean Conlon

Institutional interest has been shifting toward Solana in recent weeks as bitcoin and ether lag.

The token tied to the Ethereum alternative is up about 15% in the past two weeks, while ether is flat and bitcoin is down 4%. In the past month, SOL has gained 30%, outperforming ether (up 24%) and bitcoin (down 2%) in that period.

"Solana is the standout performer. It's at a key resistance level, and any positive macro signal, like confirmation of a U.S. rate cut, could send it to new highs," said Leo Zhao, investment director at MEXC Ventures. Additionally, "more digital asset treasury companies are accumulating SOL, positioning it not just as a speculative play but as a reserve asset with yield potential."

At the beginning of 2025, SOL ran to an all-time high of $295, driven by a surge of interest in politically-themed tokens – including the "Official Trump" meme coin and LIBRA, the token promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei – which led to major network congestion. By February, it dropped to a low of $95.

For more, read our full story on CNBC Pro.

— Tanaya Macheel

Barclays said it's watching for opportunities to buy in on sell-offs as the new trading month kicks off.

"We stay in buy-the-dip mode, looking for rotation into cyclical & exporter laggards on an improving growth/policy trade-off," Barclays analyst Emmanuel Cau wrote to clients in a Wednesday note.

Cau said stocks face a "September reality check" after trading near highs and with the bond market "on edge."

— Alex Harring

Bank of America's client flow data showed near-record buying of small-cap stocks in the prior week after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell set the stage for a rate-cutting cycle in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The firm's clients bought $1.5 billion worth of small/micro cap single stocks and small cap ETFs in the past week, marking the second largest weekly purchase since 2008.

Bank of America said it expects small caps to outperform in the near term, benefitting from lower interest rates.

— Yun Li

Both share classes of Alphabet were among the 10 stocks in the S&P 500 that traded at new all-time highs during Wednesday's session.

Tickers that reached this milestone were as follows:

• Fox Corporation Class B trading at all-time highs back to its creation as the portion not acquired by Disney in 2019
• Fox Corporation Class A trading at all-time highs back to its creation as the portion not acquired by Disney in 2019
• Alphabet C share trading at all-time highs back to the special distribution on April 2, 2014, when (the non-voting share was created, and it began trading on April 3, 2014)
• Alphabet A share trading all-time highs back to its IPO on Aug. 19, 2004
• Live Nation Entertainment trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in December 2005
• Hilton Worldwide trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in December 2013
• Ralph Lauren trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in June 1997
• American Express trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May 1977
• United Rentals trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in December 1997
• Seagate trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in December 2002

Stocks that traded at new 52-week highs included Ulta, Marathon Petroleum, Valero, Corning and Western Digital.

On the other hand, Constellation Brands, Erie Indemnity, Revvity and Amcor reached new 52-week lows.

— Christopher Hayes, Lisa Kailai Han

Check out some of the stocks making midday moves Wednesday:

• Bruker – The diagnostics solutions stock dropped more than 11% after it announce the sale of $600 million in convertible stocks. The decline puts Bruker on pace for its biggest one-day drop since July 21, when it slid 12%.
• Sprinklr – Shares dipped 8% after the software company announced finance chief Manish Sarin would be departing from his role, effective Sept. 19. That overshadowed better-than-expected second-quarter results.
• TG Therapeutics – The biotech company rose more than 5% after it authorized another $100 million share repurchase program. It also completed another buyback of the same size.

Read here for the full list of stocks.

— Fred Imbert

Investors such as Mark Mahaney, Evercore ISI's head of internet research, have solidified their bullish stance on Alphabet following the search engine operator's win in its antitrust case.

"It's our number one pick, because now you get to the fundamentals," Mahaney said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Wednesday morning.

The analyst added that valuation for Alphabet shares remain "highly attractive," with several factors driving the company's fundamentals from here. These include accelerating revenue in YouTube and Google Cloud alongside the expansion of Waymo.

Google has also been able to take advantage of generative artificial intelligence to improve its ad selection. Meanwhile, the market is underappreciating the rising quality of Google's ad leads, which will cause pricing to go up, providing another tailwind for the stock.

Mahaney's current price target for the stock sits at $240 per share, implying an upside of 13%. But he believes shares could eventually rise to around the $300 level, which is approximately 42% than where shares are currently trading.

Mahaney added that this ruling is also a "big win" for Apple.

"This has clearly been an overhang on Apple stock, and now they've got this almost guaranteed $20, $25 billion a year, and super high margin revenue coming their way thanks to Google," he said.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Chipotle Mexican Grille's battered stock is poised to turn around, according to Rothschild & Company Redburn. The firm upgraded the fast-casual restaurant to buy from neutral on Wednesday. Its $55 price target implies nearly 32% upside from Tuesday's close.

Shares took a hit in July after Chipotle cut its full-year same-store-sales growth.

"Chipotle's share price correction reflects cyclical softness in growth rather than structural weakness in its growth model," analyst Chris Luyckx wrote in a note to clients.

"Near-term pressure has reset expectations, but the underlying unit economics remain best-in-class, supported by a defensible value proposition, productivity innovation, and significant white-space expansion," he added.

Chipotle is down more than 30% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

U.S. Treasury yields moved lower on Wednesday after job openings declined in July to levels rarely seen since the Covid pandemic.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down more than 6 basis points to 4.905%. The 30-year yield had briefly topped the 5% mark overnight prior to its fall amid uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to the Federal Reserve's independence.

Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was more than 5 basis points lower at 4.226%. The 2-year Treasury yield was also down more than 4 basis points at 3.615%.

— Sean Conlon

Job openings were weaker than expected in July, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that available positions were at 7.18 million on the month.

That's less than the Dow Jones forecast for 7.4 million.

— Sean Conlon

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both opened Wednesday's session with gains.

The broad market S&P 500 rose 0.4% just after 9:30 a.m. ET, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, declined 47 points, or 0.1%.

— Sean Conlon

Shares of Campbell's gained more than 2% in the premarket Wednesday after the company's fourth-quarter earnings surpassed Wall Street's expectations.

The company posted adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share for the quarter, above the 56 cents that analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for.

Its revenue of $2.32 billion just missed the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion, however.

The company also forecast that its adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2026 will drop between 18% and 12%, saying that two-thirds of the year-over-year decline at the midpoint of the range would be attributable to tariff impact.

— Sean Conlon

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading:

• Alphabet — The parent of Google and YouTube jumped more than 6% after a federal judge ruled that Alphabet can keep its Chrome browser. But Google won't be able to sign exclusive search deals and also has to share its data, the ruling said.
• Macy's — The retailer jumped 13% after posting second-quarter results that beat expectations. Macy's earned an adjusted 41 cents per share on revenue of $4.81 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $4.76 billion. Macy's also raised its earnings and revenue outlook.
• Zscaler — The cybersecurity stock rose roughly 2% after fiscal fourth-quarter results topped analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines. Zscaler earned an adjusted 89 cents per share on revenue of $719 million, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for profit of 80 cents per share on $707 million in revenue. The company also issued rosy guidance for the current quarter.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Google parent Alphabet avoided a worst-case scenario break-up in an antitrust case, and the positive decision helped reinforce Wall Street's bullishness on shares of Alphabet, which rose around 6% in the premarket Wednesday.

Most of those covering the stock maintained a buy-equivalent rating on the stock, while some firms such as Barclays and JPMorgan upped their price target. JPMorgan, for instance, raised its price target to $260, which implies 23% upside.

"The long awaited Google Search Commercial Agreement remedies announced Tuesday afternoon were much more favorable for Google than anticipated, particularly as the Judge took into account the rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive search landscape spurred by GenAI," JPMorgan wrote in a note.

"Even as the bar for remedies moved higher through August w/GOOGL shares closing at an all-time high on the last day of the month, the Judge's conclusions were mostly positive for Google and we see them having no major impact to financials going forward, which is a win," the firm continued.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of Macy's spiked more than 14% in premarket trading Wednesday after the retailer posted better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook.

Macy's reported adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share on $4.81 billion in revenue for the period, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had penciled in 18 cents per share and $4.76 billion in revenue.

For the full year, the company now anticipates between $1.70 and $2.05 in adjusted earnings per share and revenue of $21.15 billion to $21.45 billion. That's up from its prior guidance of between $1.60 and $2 per share and revenue of $21 billion to $21.4 billion.

— Sean Conlon

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday as investors assessed rising global bond yields and the latest developments on the trade front.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.6% to close at 25,343.43, while mainland China's CSI 300 declined by 0.68% to close at 4,459.83.

RatingDog's China General Services purchasing managers' index — which captures the country's services activity — hit a 15-month high thanks to stronger domestic demand and a rebound in foreign orders.

The index, which is compiled by S&P Global, rose to 53.0 in August from 52.6 in July. The 50-point mark separates an expansion from contraction.

Meanwhile, authorities in Hong Kong are investigating if regulatory staff at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and the Securities and Futures Commission disclosed information to individuals on upcoming announcements from several listed companies over a few years. At least two individuals were involved in the alleged insider dealings, Bloomberg reported, citing comments from people familiar with the matter.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark logged its biggest one-day drop since Apr. 7. The 200-stock benchmark closed 1.82% lower at 8,738.80, dragged by declines in tech, real estate and property stocks.

The country's second-quarter GDP grew 1.8% year over year, marking the fastest pace of growth since September 2023. The latest reading beat the 1.6% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters, and was higher than the 1.3% seen in the previous quarter.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.88% to close at 41,938.89, while the broader Topix index dropped by 1.07% to 3,048.89.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.38% choppy trade to end the day at 3,184.42, while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.35% to 796.81.

Elsewhere in India, the benchmark Nifty 50 increased by 0.23%, while the BSE Sensex index ticked up 0.12% as of 1:50 a.m. Indian Standard Time (4:20 a.m. ET.)

— Amala Balakrishner

Shares of a couple companies made moves after the bell on their earnings releases. Take a look:

• Zscaler shares rose about 3% after the cloud security company solidly beat expectations on top and bottom lines. Zscaler reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share on revenue of $719 million, exceeding analysts' profit forecast of 80 cents per share on $707 million in revenue, per LSEG. The company also gave better-than-expected guidance for its upcoming quarter.
• Shares of HealthEquity jumped 4% on strong second-quarter results. The company earned $1.08 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $326 million for the period, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of 92 cents per share on revenue of $321 million.

— Pia Singh

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is planning to start interviews on Friday to determine the next Federal Reserve chair, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the WSJ report, the interview process — which is being conducted in an effort to replace current chair Jerome Powell — will continue next week and be done either in person or by video conference. Bessent earlier confirmed to CNBC in mid-August that there are 11 potential candidates for the job. He plans to recommend a final list of candidates to President Donald Trump after the interviews.

— Pia Singh

Shares of Google parent Alphabet jumped about 8% in after-hours trading after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that Google can keep its Chrome browser, but will be barred from exclusive search deals and must share search data.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta comes nearly one year after he ruled that Google illegally held a monopoly in internet search. In a landmark case filed in 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged that Google kept its share of the general search market by creating strong barriers to entry and a feedback loop that sustained its dominance.

Apple shares also rose 3% on the news, as the iPhone maker also faces antitrust scrutiny around its alleged smartphone monopoly. Google pays Apple billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on iPhones.

Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities global head of tech research, said in a note that Mehta's ruling is a "massive win" for both Google and Apple.

"This was a black cloud [of] worry over Apple's stock as investors worried a Google Chrome breakup and/or forced to extinguish the search deal with Apple was potentially on the docket," Ives wrote. "While in theory Google is barred from 'exclusive deals' for search this now lays the groundwork for Apple to continue its deal and ultimately likely double down on more AI-related partnership with Google Gemini down the road. We now see a green light for a bigger Gemini AI partnership between Apple and Google with this DOJ case now in the rear view mirror."

— Pia Singh

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, futures tied to the S&P 500 were 0.35% higher, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose more than 0.4%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower by 18 points, or less than 0.1%.

— Pia Singh