Stocks close at record highs for second day as AI trade heats up ahead of Fed rate decision
Stocks hit fresh records on Tuesday as investors stepped further into the artificial intelligence trade a day before the Federal Reserve is set to announce its interest rate decision.
The S&P 500 rose 0.23% to close at 6,890.89. It had surpassed the 6,900 level for the first time on an intraday basis earlier in the day. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.80% to finish at 23,827.49, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 161.78 points, or 0.34%, to settle at 47,706.37. In addition to their closing highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and 30-stock Dow scored new all-time intraday highs alongside the broad market S&P 500.
The market’s gains were led by Nvidia, which climbed about 5% and had notched a new high. The AI chip darling made a series of announcements Tuesday at its GTC conference, including its partnership with Finnish company Nokia. Nvidia will take a $1 billion stake in Nokia, which said it will use the proceeds from that share investment to fund in part its AI plans. Other AI-related names like Broadcom saw a boost as well.
Microsoft was around 2% higher heading into its earnings results after the bell on Wednesday. The stock, along with Apple, crossed $4 trillion in value during Tuesday’s session. On Tuesday, OpenAI announced it has completed its recapitalization, a move that sets up Microsoft for a windfall with it holding roughly 27% of the for-profit arm OpenAI Group PBC.
Along with Microsoft and Apple, a number of “Magnificent Seven” names are due to report this week, such as Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms, and those five names together account for roughly one quarter of the S&P 500′s total value. So far, the earnings season is off to a “fantastic” start, Mike Dickson of Horizon Investments told CNBC. About one-third of S&P 500 companies have reported, 83% of which have beaten earnings expectations, according to FactSet data.
Source : Cnbc.com
