Updates with afternoon trading

By Noel Randewich and Utkarsh Hathi

May 6 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumped to record highs on Wednesday, buoyed by signs of a resolution in the Middle East conflict, while strong earnings from Advanced Micro Devices sparked a rally in chipmakers and other AI-related stocks.

Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O soared 17% to a record high after forecasting quarterly revenue above expectations on robust demand for its data center chips.

Shares of rival Intel INTC.O jumped 2.4%, while the PHLX chip index .SOX jumped 3.5%, bringing its 2026 gain to about 60%.

Global stocks surged and oil prices slumped after Iran said it was reviewing a new U.S. proposal, while sources said Washington and Tehran were closing in on a one-page memorandum to end the war in the Gulf while leaving tricky issues such as Iran's nuclear program for later.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell almost 7% to $102.24 a barrel, helping ease concerns about inflationary pressures.

Wall Street has surged in recent weeks, with investors looking beyond the Middle East conflict and instead focusing on a strong first-quarter earnings season that has been driven by AI-related companies.

S&P 500 companies are on track for their strongest profit growth in more than four years. Over 80% of S&P 500 companies that reported through May 1 have exceeded analysts' profit estimates, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data.

"The economy is chugging along just fine. There's no real danger signs of something that's even close to approaching a downturn. And so with that as a backdrop, you have to own stocks," said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

Corning surged 14% after saying it was partnering with Nvidia to expand U.S. production of optical connectivity products used in AI data centers. Nvidia climbed almost 5%.

Hut 8 HUT.O soared 33% after the AI data center developer signed a 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion for its Beacon Point data center campus in Texas.

The S&P 500 was up 1.22% at 7,347.84 points.

The Nasdaq gained 1.67% to 25,749.83 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.15% at 49,864.23 points.

Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by industrials .SPLRCI, up 2.26%, followed by a 1.92% gain in information technology .SPLRCT.

U.S. private payrolls posted their largest increase in 15 months in April, pointing to continued labor market stability even as the conflict with Iran clouds the economy's outlook.

Investors were awaiting the more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, with U.S. jobs seen increasing by 62,000 in April after rebounding 178,000 in March, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem said the risks to monetary policy have shifted towards higher inflation, possibly requiring interest rates to stay on hold for some time amid a seemingly stable job market.

Walt Disney rose almost 7% after the entertainment firm beat estimates for second-quarter results and as investors got a glimpse of CEO Josh D'Amaro's growth strategy for the company.

Uber Technologies gained 7.5% after the ride-hailing and delivery platform forecast strong second-quarter bookings.

Super Micro SMCI.O rallied 18% following a stronger-than-expected forecast for fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 .AD.SPX by a 1.7-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 41 new highs and 18 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 170 new highs and 84 new lows.