U.S. equities regained ground Wednesday as renewed artificial-intelligence dealmaking helped offset steep losses in high-multiple software and cybersecurity stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 7,668.79, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 235 points, or 0.4%, to 53,002.29, and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.2% to 29,012.77. NVIDIA surged 4.7% to $227.66 on reports of advanced talks to acquire Hugging Face for $14 billion. Rate-hike expectations remained the dominant macro pressure on growth stocks, with futures pricing a roughly 66% probability of a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve increase later this month, up from about 40% a week earlier after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh used his Jackson Hole address to recommit to fighting inflation. Economic data were mixed: ADP reported private payroll growth of 38,000 in August, the weakest since January and below the 47,000 consensus, while July factory orders increased 0.9% against expectations for 0.6%. U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets, Tehran's retaliation and reports of tanker strikes near the strait kept a geopolitical premium in crude. West Texas Intermediate rose 0.6% to $90.78 a barrel and Brent gained 1.0% to $95.55. The 10-year Treasury yield held at 4.81% after reaching its highest level since October 2023 during a five-session advance, while the five-year yield stood at 4.56%. Gold rebounded 1.0% to $4,372.53 an ounce as the dollar retreated, but remained down 4.9% over the week. Markets next awaited Broadcom's quarterly results after the closing bell. The session showed that strong earnings and guidance were not enough to protect richly valued software shares, as investors focused on AI infrastructure costs and elevated expectations. Credo Technology, MongoDB and Palo Alto Networks all reported better-than-expected results or guidance but fell sharply, while GitLab and Dell rose after their results. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund remained the leading sector performer in 2026, up 47.3% year to date versus a 27.7% gain for the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund.