Wall Street recovers some of the week's losses after AI stocks swing back upward

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is recovering some of its losses for the week on Thursday, as the roller coaster for artificial-intelligence companies turns back upward. Oil prices and Treasury yields, meanwhile, remain near where they were the day before, even though worries are rising about the war with Iran and accelerating inflation.

The S&P 500 added 0.3%, coming off a back-to-back drop that yanked it back to where it was in early May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 313 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

AI stocks helped lead the market, as they have since last week then they went from roaring to records to suddenly turning lower. The big concern is whether such stocks shot too high, too fast because of AI mania, and they’ve been careening up and down, sometimes hour by hour.

Marvell Technology climbed 2.6%, for example. It’s coming off a manic stretch where it plunged 16.7%, soared 9.6% and then fell more than 5% for two straight days. Just before that, it had a one-day surge of 32.5% that was its best in history when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested it could be “the next trillion-dollar company.” It was worth a bit more than $190 billion at the time.

Companies involved in the making of chips jumped to some of the market's biggest gains. Lam Research rose 8.2%, and KLA climbed 8.4%.

That helped offset a drop of 11.6% for Oracle. It reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it also said it expects to raise $40 billion in cash this fiscal year through borrowing and sales of its stock. That comes after it raised $48 billion last fiscal year to help pay for AI investments.

Other companies’ stocks have also been punished recently for announcing heavy spending on AI, as the question remains whether all the investment can produce the profits and productivity that AI proponents are promising.

Oil prices, meanwhile, drifted following the latest fighting in the war with Iran, which has hurt the flow of oil deliveries from the Persian Gulf. President Donald Trump threatened to launch major strikes on Iran and seize control of its oil industry.

The United States and Iran have launched attacks over the past several days after a more than monthlong tenuous ceasefire. While the strikes have escalated tensions in the region, they have been more limited compared to the early weeks of the war and talks aimed at extending the ceasefire are ongoing.

Brent crude oil, the international standard, added 0.3% to $93.30 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude oil recovered an earlier decline and rose 1% to $90.96 per barrel.

High oil prices have sent inflation painfully upward, and a report on Thursday showed that prices at the U.S. wholesale level increased by more in May than economists expected. The effect is worldwide, and the European Central Bank on Thursday became the first major central bank to raise interest rates in response.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation. But they also simultaneously slow entire economies and undercut prices for all kinds of investments, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. They hit investments seen as the most expensive in particular, and some critics are calling AI a bubble where investment inflated too far.

The Federal Reserve will make its own decision on interest rates next week under its new chair, Kevin Warsh. He was appointed by Trump, who has been pushing for lower interest rates. But the widespread expectation is that the Fed will keep its main interest rate steady next week.

If anything, traders see the Fed as more likely to raise rates at least once by the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. Not only is inflation still above the Fed's target, the U.S. job market also looks to remain solid.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.52% from 4.55% late Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

A trio of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader John Bowers works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Dealers talk near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and a foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers talk on the phones at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A screen shows foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged in the political assassinations of the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, as well as the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday after prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.

Vance Boelter was charged with murdering Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and with shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Boelter came to their doors in the early hours of June 14, 2025, disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged in the political assassinations of the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, as well as the attempted murders of a state senator and his wife, is due to appear in federal court Thursday to change his not-guilty plea, after federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him.

The U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis notified the court Wednesday that the Justice Department would not seek the death penalty against Vance Boelter in accordance with a proposed plea agreement. Boelter’s attorneys did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The court filing did not detail the terms of the plea agreement.

Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were shot by a man who came to their doors in the early hours of June 14, 2025, disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car. The Hortmans’ golden retriever was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized.

Boelter, 58, was captured near his home in rural Green Isle late the next day after what prosecutors have called the largest search for a suspect in Minnesota history. He faces federal and state murder, attempted murder and other charges. His state case has been on hold pending the resolution of his federal charges.

Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case. Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said the federal plea deal would not affect Boelter’s state charges.

While the Trump administration has pushed for greater use of capital punishment, there were questions about whether Boelter’s case would qualify for the death penalty under federal law.

Prosecutors have called the shootings political. When they announced the federal indictment in July, they released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the attacks. However, the letter didn’t make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or the Hoffmans.

In some messages to media, Boelter referenced a vague and cryptic “investigation” he had been carrying out, sometimes suggesting it was about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian and occasional preacher and missionary, who held politically conservative views and had been struggling to find work.

John Hoffman said in a lawsuit filed against Boelter in April that his left arm and hand likely would never fully recover, and that he also had permanent injuries to his digestive and urinary systems.

Yvette Hoffman was left with permanent physical weakness, the lawsuit said, while their adult daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was there and called 911 but was not shot, suffered severe psychological trauma.

FILE - This courtroom sketch shows Vance Boelter, who is charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband and wounding a state senator and his wife, appears at federal court in Minneapolis on Aug. 7, 2025. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP, File)

FILE - This booking photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office shows Vance Boelter in Green Isle, Minn., on June 16, 2025. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

FILE - A photo of Mark and Melissa Hortman is displayed during their funeral service inside the sanctuary at the Basilica of St. Mary's in Minneapolis on June 28, 2025. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP, Pool, File)