US stocks close at record highs as investors decide they actually like Apple’s AI plans

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both closed at all-time highs with gains of 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively.

It was all tech on Tuesday. The only two sector ETFs that traded higher on the day were tech and communication services (which includes Google and Meta, both of which rose). Financials fared the worst, down 1.1%.

Only 182 stocks in the S&P 500 advanced. It’s been nearly a year since the S&P 500 posted a bigger gain with a lower number of stocks moving higher.

Apple spiked 7.3% in its best day since November 2022 as investors decided its approach to implementing AI features across its products — which they disliked yesterday — was good after all. Options buyers got busy, with call volumes the highest since 2021. It’s the first time this year that more money has changed hands trading Apple than Nvidia.

Berkshire Hathaway, despite being the third-largest owner with more than $150 billion worth of Apple stock, fell 0.6%. The gap between the two stocks’ excess returns was the largest since July 31, 2020, a session which followed a blowout earnings report from the iPhone maker.

Shares of private prison operator CoreCivic and services provider Target Hospitality were smashed, falling 19.7% and 31.5% respectively, on news that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will close their particularly costly detention center in Texas.