The world's most valuable company, and first to be valued at $4trn (£2.9trn), beat market expectations in keenly anticipated financial results.

Microchip maker Nvidia recorded revenues of $46.7bn (£34.6bn) in just three months up to July, latest financial data from the company showed, slightly better than Wall Street observers had expected.

The company's performance is seen as a bellwether for artificial intelligence (AI) demand, with investors paying close attention to see whether the hype is overblown or if significant investment will pay off.

Originally a creator of gaming graphics hardware, Nvidia's chips help power AI capability - and the UK's most powerful supercomputer.

Nvidia's graphics processors underpin products such as ChatGPT from OpenAI and Gemini from Google.

Other tech giants - Microsoft, Meta and Amazon - make up Nvidia's biggest customers and are paying large sums to embed AI into their products.