AI Investment Boom and Crypto Volatility

U.S. stocks staged a broad rally Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 1,206 points (2.5%) to close above 50,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 jumping 2% to 6,932, its best day since May 2025, as tech shares and bitcoin rebounded from steep mid‑week losses. Nvidia and Broadcom each gained about 7%–8%, trimming or erasing heavy declines tied to worries that massive AI‑related capital spending might not pay off, even as Amazon shares fell 5.6% on continued doubts about its $200 billion investment push. Bitcoin, which had plunged more than halfway below its October record and briefly neared $60,000 on Thursday, bounced back above $70,000, helping drive double‑digit percentage jumps in Robinhood, Coinbase and bitcoin‑holder Strategy. Gold rose 1.8% to just under $5,000 an ounce and silver stabilized after recent wild swings, reflecting some cooling in the flight to hard assets amid geopolitical jitters. A University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment improving and one‑year inflation expectations falling to their lowest since January 2025, giving markets more confidence that the Federal Reserve under its coming new chair could still cut rates later this year despite ongoing volatility in AI and crypto names.