Shares of technology companies rose as traders bet the artificial-intelligence boom would continue.
Google owner Alphabet agreed to acquire data-center-solutions and power company Intersect for $4.75 billion in cash, plus debt, in a deal that will include the company's data-center projects in development.
Google and its rivals Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are scrambling for data-center capacity to support the vast computing resources needed to build artificial-intelligence models.
Already, the lucrative nature of AI has bolstered the earnings growth of the mega-cap tech companies. That helps to explain the bifurcation of the stock market, with the tech sector far outperforming most other sectors, one strategist said. The largest 10 tech companies represent roughly 45% of the market cap of the S&P 500, said J.D. Joyce, president of Houston financial advisory Joyce Wealth Management.
"At first glance, you'd say [these companies are] trading at a lofty multiple...where it gets complicated is that so much earnings are alsocoming from that 45% that's flying so high."
The Roundhill Magnificent Seven exchange-traded fund, comprised of the seven largest tech companies, is up about 25% for the year to date.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-22-25 1838ET
