Nasdaq 100 gains $3.5T in market cap in four days as AI stocks surge

The Nasdaq 100 just had one of its best weeks in over a year. Technology stocks powered a $3.5 trillion gain in the index’s total market value across just four trading days through August 5, 2026, a 9.3% surge that ranks as the sharpest four-day advance since the tariff-driven recovery following April 2025’s so-called Liberation Day. What actually drove the move The catalyst was earnings, specifically strong results from technology companies tied to artificial intelligence and chip manufacturing. Investors who had been sitting on the sidelines after an 11% correction earlier this summer took the reports as a green light to rotate back in. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index made the point loudly, rising more than 7% in a single trading session. NVIDIA sat at the center of the optimism. Prediction markets priced in an 84% probability that NVIDIA would surpass every other company to claim the top spot by global market capitalization before the end of August 2026. Context: a recovery, not just a rally It is worth being precise about what this four-day move represents. The Nasdaq 100 had already dropped roughly 11% in a correction earlier this summer. So while the $3.5 trillion gain i...