FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Alphabet logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) - Alphabet led a Big Tech rally on Wednesday, with its stock hitting a record high after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to lead the consumer protection and antitrust agency.
Trump tapped Ferguson on Tuesday to replace Lina Khan, whose term as FTC chair has expired.
The agency became a political flashpoint under Khan, who promoted antitrust enforcement as a check on corporate power. Several Big Tech firms such as Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Apple faced heightened regulatory pressure from the FTC during her tenure.
Ferguson was a "known dissenter" under Khan "and many people feel under his leadership the antitrust case against Alphabet will come to an end", said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.
Trump and his team have been broadly critical of Big Tech companies, although some of his most prominent backers were tech executives, and it is unclear how they will approach regulatory and M&A policy for that sector.
Alphabet's shares rose about 5.5% to hit a record high of $195.45. Tesla jumped 4.6%, also to a record high, extending its rally since the Nov. 5 presidential election on bets the EV-maker will benefit from CEO Elon Musk's close relationship with Trump.
Other tech shares also rallied. Microsoft gained 1.2% and Amazon.com and Meta Platforms added 2% each.
The latest inflation report raised expectations of an interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this month, lifting technology stocks.
Shares of Alphabet have gained over 10% in the last two days following announcements from the company about its AI agents and quantum-chip breakthrough.
Google released the second generation of its Gemini artificial-intelligence model earlier on Wednesday and teased a lineup of new ways to use AI beyond chatbots, including through a pair of eyeglasses.
It unveiled a new-generation chip on Monday, which it said helped overcome a key challenge in quantum computing.
"What we're seeing here is Google positioning itself at the bleeding edge of a transformative technology," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital.
"While Google sometimes has been viewed as 'behind' in AI, the recent quantum breakthrough shows us that the company knows how to construct processors," said Jamie Meyers, senior analyst at Laffer Tengler Investments.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
