Intel Corp. shares surged on Thursday after the announcement of a major investment from Nvidia, sparking a rally in chip stocks and pushing US indexes to new record highs. Nvidia will invest $5 billion in Intel, and the companies will jointly develop custom products for data centers and PCs.

Intel stock soared 28% in morning trading, while Nvidia gained about 3%. Nvidia is up 30% year-to-date, while Intel has climbed about 53%. Other top gainers included Synopsys (+10%), ASML (+7%), Applied Materials (+6.14%), and CrowdStrike (+5.55%).

Indexes also reacted positively: the S&P 500 rose 0.41% to 6,627.08 points, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.75% to 22,428.43, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly unchanged at 46,012.79.

Analysts called the deal a “game changer” for Intel, which after years of stagnation now has a chance to take a leading position in artificial intelligence. According to Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, together with recent US government investments, this marks “golden weeks for Intel after years of investor frustration.”

The backdrop contrasted with Wednesday’s Fed meeting: the central bank cut rates by 25 basis points, an already expected move that prompted a “sell the news” reaction. But the Nvidia-Intel partnership was the true catalyst for the fresh rally that carried markets to record highs.