U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs, as technology stocks rallied on continuedenthusiasm for artificial intelligence, with further support from declining Treasury yields.
The gains marked the second straight closing record for the
Nasdaq.IXIC, whichalso set an intraday record as AI-related names such as
Nvidia NVDA.O and Meta Platforms META.O led it past its prior peak of
16,212.23set in November 2021.
Through the end of February, the three major indexes notched
their fourth straight month of gains in a rally largely fueled by growth
prospects related to AI, which has also lifted semiconductor names.
On Friday, shares of Nvidia climbed 4% and closed above $2
trillion in market value for the first time. Rival Advanced Micro Devices
AMD.Oshares gained 5.25% to a record high close of $202.64, while the broader
Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOXalso closed at a record after a jump of
4.29% on the session.
Markets have drawn support from a resilient economy, as
investors have tried to gauge the timing of the first interest rate cut by the
Federal Reserve, with investors currently targeting June and growing
expectations the central bank can engineer a soft landing for the economy.
"Because the economy is doing well and because
inflation remains a bit sticky, the Fed will be slower to lower interest
rates," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in
New York.
"But that's good because then we're gradually coming
off of the higher interest rate cycle and we're not in need of cutting rates
aggressively."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 90.99 points, or
0.23% , to 39,087.38, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 40.81 points, or 0.80%, to
5,137.08 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 183.02 points, or 1.14%, to
16,274.94.
Despite a strong services sector and tight labor market, the
economy still shows pockets of weakness, notably in manufacturing, although
data on Friday included some signs of a possible rebound.
That helped push U.S. Treasury yields lower, with the
two-year note yield US2YT=RR falling to as low as 4.519%.
Fed Governor Chris Waller said upcoming decisions about the
ultimate size of its balance sheet have no bearing on its inflation fight.
Fellow Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said she is cautiously
optimistic progress will continue on disinflation without a significant
weakening of the labor market, and that the central bank has avoided a
wage-price spiral. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said it is too soon to
predict when the Fed will be able to begin cutting rates.
The S&P 500 tech index <.SPLRCT> was the top
performer of the 11 major sectors, gaining 1.78%, while utilities .SPLRCU were
weakest, showing a decline of 0.72%.
Among major movers, New York Community Bancorp NYCB.Ntumbled
25.89% after the regional lender said it had found "material
weaknesses" in internal controls related to its loan review and revised
its fourth-quarter loss to 10 times above the previously stated numbers, which
helped send the KBW regional banking index .KRX 1.27% lower.
Dell Technologies DELL.Nsurged 31.62%, its biggest daily
percentage gain ever, after the personal computer maker forecast annual revenue
and profit above Wall Street estimates.
Gains on the Dow were curbed in part by a 1.83% fall in
Boeing BA.N after a report said the planemaker was in talks to buy supplier
Spirit AeroSystems SPR.N.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.29-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.55-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 87 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 363 new highs and 88 new lows. -Reuters
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