US shares soar as Magnificent 7 ride again after sluggish start to year  

The market mood in Europe was subdued after ECB chiefs appeared to have some success in reining in market bets the central bank was set to cut interest rates aggressively this year

Investor optimism about the resilience of the US economy and potential accretions from AI has buoyed markets

US shares powered higher as the S&P 500 index was driven by gains in chipmakers and heavyweight technology stocks on optimism around artificial intelligence (AI).

After surging about 24% last year, the S&P 500 had been nearly flat so far in 2024, as investors scaled back bets on how aggressively the US Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates this year.