The tech-focused Nasdaq stock index closed at a record high today – another boost for investors and America’s 401(K) retirement accounts.
It took more than two years to beat the record set in November 2021.
The S&P 500 also closed higher on Thursday – which, like the Nasdaq, was supported by technology stocks linked to AI.
Both indices were also helped by inflation data and comments from Federal Reserve Officials who made this move more likely will be more likely to see an interest rate cut in June.
For the average American, their primary exposure to sotck exchange is likely in their retirement plan, as most 401(K) accounts have money invested in these benchmarks.
The Nasdaq finished at a record high – the first record since November 2021
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is now the 20th richest man on the planet with a net worth of $69.7 billion.
Homes in this elusive neighborhood cost tens of millions of dollars, and you can count tech giants Larry Ellison and David Sachs as neighbors.
Chipmaker Nvidia rose as the biggest mover on the benchmark S&P and the Nasdaq, while its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices, surged.
These and other technology companies have been the centerpiece of a Wall Street rally in recent months fueled by optimism about growth prospects tied to artificial intelligence.
Dell Technologies, which sells AI-optimized servers powered by high-end processors from Nvidia, moved ahead of its report after the bell.
Nvidia shares have fallen over the past year – and the company has made a market capitalization of $2 trillion as investors continue to drive up its stock value after blockbuster earnings.
One day last week, shares rose 13 percent – and led to the largest single-day increase in value for a company, as it added $150 billion to its market capitalization.
The company was founded and still led by Jensen Huang – who left ffrom minimum wage at Denny’s to life in a $44 million mansion on San Francisco’s billionaires’ district.
Traders are betting the Fed will cut rates in June, according to CME’s FedWatch tool, after a Commerce Department report showed U.S. prices rose in January as expectedwhile annual inflation was the lowest in three years.
There were concerns that inflation would be higher than expected, as has happened in recent reports.
“Without some sort of hawkish surprise here, which it wasn’t, it was mild or at least compliant, then there’s no real reason for the market to expect the Fed to become more hawkish than she had already announced,” said Ross Mayfield. investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.
“It doesn’t matter what you think they should do. That’s what they say they’re going to do and once again the market has been brought back to where the Fed said it would be.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 index gained 27.78 points, or 0.51%, to end at 5,095.78 points.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 144.19 points, or 0.90%, to 16,091.93.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.07 points, or 0.07%, to 38,973.09.
Each of the three major indexes posted a gain in February, their fourth consecutive monthly advance.
Atlanta Fed President and voting member Raphael Bostic stressed the need for a data-driven approach to monetary policy, saying the path to the Fed’s 2% inflation target would be seeded pitfalls, and reiterated his view that he saw the central bank cutting rates “in the future”. the summer months.
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said last year’s improvements in the supply of goods and the labor market paved the way for lower inflation this year, indicating that he remained supportive of rate cuts later this year.
Reports on consumer and producer prices released in early February, which showed stubborn inflation, led investors to postpone their rate cut expectations until June.
At the start of this year, traders viewed March as the likely starting point for the Fed’s easing cycle.
The basic personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index increased by 0.4 percent between December and January.
The Federal Reserve’s current benchmark interest rates are between 5.25 and 5.5 percent and have been at this high level since last summer. Reductions not expected until June
Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 24 stood at 215,000, more than the 210,000 expected, economists polled by Reuters said.
The Dow Jones’s gains were held back, partly weighed down by the fall of Boeing after the announcement of a Justice Department investigation.
Snowflake collapsed after the cloud data analytics company forecast first-quarter product revenue below Wall Street estimates and announced the retirement of its CEO Frank Slootman.
Paramount Global climbed after the media conglomerate posted a surprise profit on streaming gains.
