S&P, Dow eke out another record closing high as Nvidia momentum endures

The Nvidia craze continues with its stock, the Dow, and the S&P all making modest gains which also translates into new modest gains in their records. In fact, Nvidia briefly traded above $2T making it “one of the key companies, if not the key company, driving the S&P and Nasdaq higher.” The chart tells a slightly different story with both the Dow and S&P being way up in the morning but then declining after 11 a.m. and losing almost all gains by close. Still, the success of Big Tech has been so huge that it has pushed Fed worries onto the backburner. Despite the nearly day-long declines, all the sectors ended the day in the black and all three indexes ended the week with an average 1.5% gain. Volume has returned to a more cautionary mode at 10.64 billion. 

S&P, Dow eke out another record closing high as Nvidia momentum endures

By David French

Fri February 23, 2024 4:48 PM

DJ: 39,069.11  +456.87       NAS: 16,041.62  +460.75       S&P: 5,087.03  +105.23   2/22

DJ: 39,131.53  +62.42         NAS: 15,996.82  -44.80          S&P: 5,088.80  +1.77       2/23

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out another closing record high on Friday, with all three Wall Street benchmarks scoring weekly gains, as artificial intelligence stocks had enough steam to keep the rally chugging along.  AI poster child Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab advanced again, rising 0.4%, and briefly traded above $2 trillion in market valuation for the first time.  Nvidia's gains on Thursday, the session after its blowout earnings, had propelled the chipmaker to add $277 billion in stock market value, Wall Street's largest ever daily gain. Despite a smaller advance on the final trading day of the week, its performance still dominated the market's attention.

"Nvidia is one of the key companies, if not the key company, for driving the Nasdaq and S&P 500 higher," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise.  Saglimbene noted investors have been walking back expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which otherwise could be a headwind for markets. But the performance of Nvidia and other Big Tech has pushed Fed worries into the background.  "The concentration is so intense right now on Big Tech, in particular on Nvidia, that it's looking passed that," he said.

Nvidia had pulled up other Big Tech and growth stocks in previous sessions, as investors traded the AI play. Some of these names gave up some gains on Friday, as Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab all fell between 0.4% and 2.8%.  Shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O), opens new tab, another beneficiary of the AI rally, dropped 11.8% after the server component maker priced its convertible notes.

The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 1.77 points, or 0.03%, to end at 5,088.8 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab lost 44.80 points, or 0.28%, to 15,996.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 62.42 points, or 0.16%, to 39,131.53.

A majority of the S&P sectors ended in positive territory. Among the best performers were utilities (.SPLRCU), opens new tab, as well as materials (.SPLRCM), opens new tab and industrials (.SPLRCI), opens new tab. All three climbed between 0.5% and 0.7%.  For the week, the S&P 500 climbed 1.7%, the Dow rose 1.3% and the Nasdaq finished 1.4% higher.

Carvana (CVNA.N), opens new tab surged 32.1% on Friday after reporting its first-ever annual profit, helped by its pact with bondholders to cut its outstanding debt by $1 billion.  Among Friday's decliners, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), opens new tab shed 9.9% on reporting a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, as the media conglomerate battled the fallout of the twin Hollywood strikes on content generation.  Jack Dorsey-led Block (SQ.N), opens new tab jumped 16.1% after the payments firm forecast adjusted core earnings for the current quarter above Wall Street estimates, betting on consumer resilience.

The volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.64 billion shares, compared with the 11.6 billion average over the last 20 trading days.