NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix, Oracle and other technology stocks are lifting U.S. indexes as their profits pile higher and excitement builds around artificial intelligence. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% early Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher. Netflix soared after saying live events like football games and a Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight helped it add nearly 19 million subscribers in the latest quarter. Oracle jumped following the announcement of a joint venture that the White House said will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed to further develop AI in Texas.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. markets are poised to open with gains Wednesday on a sustained strong showing from some big corporations during earnings season and an announcement from President Donald Trump on a $500 billion AI investment partnership.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5% before the bell and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%. Futures for the technology-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.9%.
Netflix shot up 14.6% after it reported adding nearly 19 million subscribers during the holiday-season quarter and it topped sales and profit targets. The video streaming service’s expansion into live programming appears to be paying off as it wrapped up its best year ever with more than $40 billion in revenue.
Oracle shares jumped 8% after Trump touted a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence. The new partnership, called Stargate, includes OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. Softbank Group Corp.’s Japan-listed shares surged 10.6% on Wednesday.
United Airlines climbed 4.2% after the carrier reported record fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations. United boosted its guidance, saying that robust demand was carrying over into the current quarter.
Consumer products company Proctor & Gamble rose 3.2% before the bell, while the insurer Travelers jumped 5.2%. Both reported strong profits in their most recent quarter.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 gained 1.1%, Germany’s DAX added 1.3% and Britain’s FTSE 100 ticked up 0.2%.
Trump has promised sweeping initiatives intended to reshape global trade and the economy, often at the expense of other countries. Trump said Tuesday that he was considering a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports over fentanyl being smuggled from China to the U.S. via Mexico and Canada.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.6% to 19,778.77, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.9% to 3,213.62.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.6% to 39,646.25.
Taiwan’s Taiex also gained 1% after Trump's AI investment push, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. increasing by 1.3%.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 1.2% to 2,547.06 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,429.80.
In the foreign-currency market, the values of both the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar fell against the U.S. dollar after Trump said he expects to put 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1.
In the cryptocurrency market, which has surged amid hopes Trump will make Washington friendlier to the industry, bitcoin pulled back from its record above $109,000 set on Monday and was trading just under $105,000 early Wednesday, according to CoinDesk.
Also early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude gained 12 cents to $75.95 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 11 cents at $79.40 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 155.79 Japanese yen from 155.51 yen. The euro cost $1.0441, up from $1.0430.
Zimo Zhong And Matt Ott, The Associated Press