By Howard Smith
Publication Date: 2026-02-09 22:02:00
On February 9, 2026, Oracle’s AI-powered advances helped stabilize major U.S. indexes as software lagged and traders paid attention to key macro data.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.47%) rose 0.47% to 6,964.82, the Nasdaq Composed (^IXIC +0.90%) rose 0.90% to 23,238.67 on AI-linked technology strength, while the Dow Jones Industrial average (^DJI +0.04%) rose 0.04% to 50,135.86 after briefly falling back below 50,000.
Market movers
oracle (ORCL +9.85%) emerged as one of the S&P 500’s notable winners, helping to offset software pressures across the board Merck & Co (MRK 3.54%) declined as money was withdrawn from some defensive healthcare stocks. On the Nasdaq, Palantir Technologies (PLTR +5.37%) expanded profits and Robinhood Markets (HOOD +4.52%) rallied ahead of its earnings release.
What this means for investors
Markets broadly built on Friday’s strong tech rally that began this week. The AI-driven technology rotation continued with supposed winners like the hardware maker Nvidia (NVDA +2.58%) continues to rise while…