BUSINESS

Wall Street ends higher as investors buy AI stocks; Microsoft rallies

PUBLISHED Sep 25, 2026, 8:11 PM ET

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Wall Street ends higher as investors buy AI stocks; Microsoft rallies

Media Bias Meter

Sources: 30

Left 13%

Center 73%

Right 13%

Sources: 30

Wall Street indexes finished higher on Friday, September 25, 2026, driven by gains in Microsoft and artificial intelligence-related technology stocks. The market movement concluded a volatile trading week marked by investor uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence industry developments, alongside ongoing concerns regarding high oil prices and rising U.S. Treasury yields. Microsoft shares rallied 3.7 per cent during the session, pushing the technology giant's total gains for the year to 7 per cent following announcements of new Copilot features. Other technology and hardware companies experienced notable increases, including Qualcomm advancing 4 per cent and Dell Technologies recording a 5 per cent increase. Additionally, Akamai Technologies climbed 3.2 per cent after announcing an 11.6 billion dollar cloud services partnership with Anthropic. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, noted that corporate investments and strategic agreements continue to move forward despite broader market anxieties as participants weigh potential Federal Reserve interest rate adjustments.

By Yusra M. | JQJO News

Timeline of Events

On September 25 2026 Microsoft announced new automated coding tools and always-on AI agent features for its Copilot application.
On September 25 2026 Akamai Technologies announced an 11.6 billion dollar cloud services partnership with Anthropic.
On September 25 2026 Qualcomm and Dell Technologies shares recorded trading session gains of 4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
On September 25 2026 Wall Street indexes finished the trading session higher, driven by gains in Microsoft and AI stocks.
On September 25 2026 Globalt Investments senior portfolio manager Thomas Martin commented on ongoing corporate investments.

News Intelligence

Immediate US impact: U.S. stock indices (S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite) closed higher, boosting investor sentiment in technology sectors amid macro pressures.
Possible long-term US impact: Continued corporate investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and cloud partnerships could sustain large-cap tech valuations.
Most affected groups: U.S. retail investors, institutional portfolio managers, and technology sector stakeholders.
Reader priority: Monitoring Federal Reserve interest rate expectations and technology sector market volatility.

Media Bias

Articles Published:: 30
Right Leaning:: 4
Left Leaning:: 4
Neutral:: 22
Distribution:: Left 13%, Center 73%, Right 13%

Explain Framing

Left: leaning outlets frame the tech-driven market rally with caution, highlighting market concentration risks, wealth disparity resulting from surging tech valuations, and broader economic headwinds facing everyday consumers. Center: outlets focus objectively on financial market performance metrics, index movements, corporate earnings and partnership announcements, and Federal Reserve interest rate expectations. Right: leaning outlets emphasize free-market resilience, corporate capital deployment, innovation-driven growth, and private sector success overcoming macroeconomic policy hurdles.