NEW YORK: The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed on Thursday as investors cheered AI chip leader Nvidia’s blowout revenue forecast, but persistent worries about US inflation limited gains in the broader US market.
Certain chipmakers and AI-related stocks also rode the coattails of a 10.5% jump in Nvidia shares that carried the semiconductor bellwether past the key $1,000 mark for the first time. The stock was on track to add around $220 billion in market value if gains hold.
“There was a lot of nervousness going in as to whether Nvidia could continue to exceed the rising expectations, but yet it did... But I do worry whether this will fizzle out after a little bit,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
Nvidia also announced a stock split, following an over 90% surge in its shares this year and a threefold jump in 2023 that have made it the third-most valuable US stock.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs in early trade, but sentiment worsened after data showed US price pressures increased in May even as business activity accelerated and as lower weekly jobless claims pointed to underlying labor market strength.
Traders see 57.3% chances of an at least 25-basis-point US rate cut in September, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
“If we do see an acceleration of economic growth, it means that the Fed could sit on their hands and do nothing for longer than what was expected. That’s taken a little bit of the wind out of the sails of the markets right now,” Jacobsen said.
Barring information technology, up 1.6%, all other major S&P 500 sector indexes were in the red.
The blue-chip Dow was the worst performer among the major indexes, hitting an over one-week low on a 5.9% slide in Boeing as the US planemaker forecast negative free cash flow in 2024 due to sluggish deliveries.
At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 287.52 points, or 0.72%, at 39,383.52, the S&P 500 was up 9.59 points, or 0.18%, at 5,316.60, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 125.85 points, or 0.75%, at 16,927.40.
Chipmakers Broadcom and Micron Technology as well as AI server maker Super Micro Computer were up between 1.4% and 4.1% after paring some earlier gains. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index hit a record high.
DuPont announced plans to split into three publicly traded companies. Shares of the US conglomerate were up only 0.3%, sharply off their day’s peaks.
Ticketmaster-owner Live Nation dropped 6.4% after a report that the US Department of Justice could seek a break-up of the company to combat its domination of concert ticket sales.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.79-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.19-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 57 new highs and 102 new lows.
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