Tech sector gains helped US indexes recoup some holiday-season losses.

The S&P 500 rose 32.91 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,975.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 25.57 points, or 0.1 percent, to 42,706.56, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 243.30, or 1.2 percent, to 19,864.98.

Tech companies were the clear leaders, including those with A-I exposure. Nvidia climbed 3.4 percent to top its record set in November ahead of a speech by CEO Jensen Huang at the annual CES convention in Las Vegas after trading ended for the day.

Nvidia and other AI stocks keep climbing despite criticism that they're overbought.

Microsoft Vice Chair Brad Smith said on late Friday the company is on track to invest about US$80 billion to build out AI-enabled data centres to train AI models this fiscal year. Smith said AI is the biggest opportunity “to harness new technology to invigorate the nation’s economy” since the invention of electricity. Microsoft rose 1.1 percent.

Uber Technologies rose 2.7 percent higher after the ride-hailing app said it would accelerate US$1.5 billion in purchases of its own stock.

US Steel climbed 8.1 percent after it and Japan’s Nippon Steel filed a federal lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s decision to block a proposed nearly US$15 billion deal for Nippon to buy its Pittsburgh-based rival. (AP)