The Dow Jones Industrial Average took 27 days to break out of a technical correction. The leading company in the "old economy," Carter's Incorporated, became the biggest contributor.

After experiencing a continuous 27-day technical correction, the Dow Jones officially regained lost ground on Wednesday. The market believes that this rebound not only reflects investors' preference for risk, but also highlights the important role of traditional industrial and consumer companies in the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 612 points, or about 1.2%, to close at 49,910 points. Fueled by optimism in the market that the Iran war may be nearing its end, the Dow successfully broke through the key level of 49,683 points, officially ending the technical correction of over 10% from previous highs. Compared to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, which have higher weightings in technology stocks, the Dow's rebound pace is relatively slow. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had returned to historic highs as early as April and hit new closing records again on Wednesday. However, analysts point out that the Dow's recovery path better reflects the spillover effects of AI investments on traditional economic sectors. As an index with a history of 130 years, the Dow not only includes large tech companies but also covers 30 representative "blue-chip" companies. Construction machinery giant Caterpillar Inc. (CAT.US) has been an important force in propelling the Dow out of the correction. Data shows that since the Dow hit its low on March 27, Caterpillar Inc. has made the greatest contribution to the index rebound. The market believes that the company is poised to directly benefit from the AI infrastructure construction boom. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicts that by 2031, global AI-related capital spending could reach $1.6 trillion, while traditional industrial companies like Caterpillar Inc. will continue to benefit from data center construction and infrastructure expansion. Talley Leger, Chief Market Strategist at Wealth Consulting Group, stated that after the US launched attacks on Iran, the market experienced a "nervous phase" in the first quarter, but the current investment focus has shifted back to the AI race and US economic production capacity. Leger pointed out that the AI market is no longer just a story of a few large tech companies, but gradually spreading to the whole market, making it also a traditional economic theme. Support is also provided by US manufacturing data. Manufacturing activity in April expanded for the fourth consecutive month, ending a long period of stagnation, believed to help strengthen the resilience of the US economy. However, inflation pressures continue to persist. The average gasoline price in the US rose to $4.50 per gallon on Wednesday, a 44% increase from the previous year. Bob Schwartz, Senior Economist at Oxford Economics, warned that although consumer spending remains resilient, the household savings rate has dropped to 3.6%, a three-and-a-half-year low, with more households relying on stock market wealth rather than income to sustain consumption, a model that is "not fundamentally stable". In addition to Caterpillar Inc., consumer blue-chip stocks like Costco, Walmart, and Coca-Cola also pushed the Dow higher, while AI concept stocks like Amazon and NVIDIA also contributed to the gains. Meanwhile, energy stocks were pressured by falling oil prices, and the financial services sector showed relatively weak performance.