Today’s Market Recap: Israel-Lebanon Talks Plan Boosts Ceasefire Expectations, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Rise for Seventh Day, Semiconductor Index Hits New High

TradingKey - Planned Israel-Lebanon talks boosted hopes for maintaining a US-Iran ceasefire, and US stocks rose once again. The three major indices closed at highs not seen in over a month, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recording their seventh consecutive session of gains; memory chip stocks led the chip index up more than 2%, outperforming the market for the seventh straight day.

After the Israeli Prime Minister announced he had instructed negotiations with Lebanon, US Treasury yields turned lower during the session, hitting fresh daily lows; the US Dollar Index accelerated its decline, nearing a four-week low.

In individual stocks: Western Digital rose more than 9%; Amazon closed up 5.6%, leading tech giants after its CEO's shareholder letter confirmed the company's AI potential and provided the rationale for AI investment; conversely, software stocks slumped against the market trend, with Microsoft being the sole decliner among the "Magnificent Seven," while ServiceNow dropped nearly 8% and Palantir fell over 7%.

In commodities: Crude oil rebounded, with WTI rising nearly 9% and Brent gaining 5% intraday, before paring more than half of those gains following the Israeli Prime Minister's instruction for negotiations with Lebanon; gold and silver continued to climb, with spot gold rising nearly 2% and spot silver up over 4% during the session.

Market Headlines

The Israeli Prime Minister has instructed the immediate commencement of direct negotiations with Lebanon. Trump has requested that Israel scale back its strikes on Lebanon, stating he is "very optimistic" about reaching a peace deal with Iran soon. Trump wants Israel to maintain a "lower profile" in its military operations in Lebanon. However, the Israeli Prime Minister reiterated that the ceasefire agreement does not cover Lebanon, emphasizing that Israel will not cease hostilities in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. Israel and Lebanon are set to begin negotiations in the United States next week; Lebanon has proposed a temporary ceasefire first to create conditions for dialogue with Israel.

The U.S. Core PCE Price Index rose 3% year-on-year in February. U.S. core PCE in February eased from the previous reading of 3.1%, while consumer spending remained nearly flat month-on-month. Services inflation slowed significantly during the month, but a jump in non-durable goods prices posed a potential disturbance. Consumption data showed clear divergence: real spending grew by only a slight 0.1%, bordering on stagnation; personal income unexpectedly fell 0.1% month-on-month, and the savings rate dropped sharply to 4.0%.

Amazon is considering selling its proprietary AI chips externally, with potential annualized revenue reaching $50 billion. CEO Andy Jassy revealed in his annual shareholder letter that Amazon's chip division has already surpassed $20 billion in annualized revenue, and could reach $50 billion if it expands to external sales. Previously, Amazon only provided chip capabilities by "renting" computing power via the AWS platform; it may directly sell Trainium chip racks in the future.

Google and Intel announced an expansion of their AI chip partnership, committing to the adoption of Intel Xeon processors. Google is bringing Xeon 6 into AI training and inference, signaling a resurgence of CPUs in AI infrastructure to address computing bottlenecks in the era of AI agents. This move provides Intel with a new opportunity to penetrate a market dominated by Nvidia; meanwhile, combined with U.S. government investment, industrial capital support, and advancements in advanced manufacturing processes, market confidence in Intel is gradually recovering. Notably, while strengthening its collaboration with Intel, Google remains committed to its TPU and proprietary CPU strategies, as diversified positioning accelerates the escalation of competition in AI computing power.

CoreWeave with Meta signed a five-year computing power agreement. CoreWeave has secured its computing power supply to Meta from 2027 to 2032 in a contract worth as much as $21 billion. This major deal will help CoreWeave reduce its high dependency on Microsoft and significantly enhance customer diversification. Microsoft’s capital expenditure plan for this year is between $115 billion and $135 billion, double that of 2025. Against the backdrop of pressure on Meta's current AI model competition, CoreWeave expects the partnership to continue deepening. Subsequently, CoreWeave plans to issue $1.25 billion in bonds maturing in 2031 to raise funds.

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