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U.S. stocks soared on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, and beaten-down tech names shared in the rally.
Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Nvidia led the way among the Magnificent 7 names. Meta shares surged higher after the social media giant announced its latest artificial intelligence model called Muse Spark.
Chipmakers also soared, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gaining 6%, with ASML and Applied Materials popping about 9%. Micron added nearly 8%.
Western Digital gained nearly 9%, Lam Research added nearly 10% and Intel added 11%.
Trump backed down from his Tuesday threat that “a whole civilization will die” shortly before his 8 p.m. ET deadline and said that the U.S. would pause fighting. He said the U.S. had received a proposal from Iran and the two sides would continue to negotiate.
Despite the truce, ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has yet to return to pre-war levels and Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline was hit by a drone hours after Trump’s Truth Social post.
The relief rally comes after tech names suffered a bruising start to 2026. Tech stocks were hit particularly hard last month amid a broader market selloff driven by concerns about the Iran war.
Software stocks have crumbled over the past few months on fears that artificial intelligence could disrupt software business models.
The wipeout coincided with shares of Big Tech companies coming under pressure in February as investors questioned when they’ll start to see a return on their massive AI spending plans.
Microsoft shares have been battered more than most tech names due to worries over its AI strategy. The stock slumped 23% in the first quarter, a steeper drop than any of its tech peers or the Nasdaq, which fell 7% over that stretch.
