The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record closing highs on Wednesday, powered mainly by technology stocks as markets digested economic data that could support a much-expected start to the Federal Reserve's policy easing cycle.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 gained 62.69 points, or 1.18%, to end at 5,354.03, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 330.86 points, or 1.96%, to 17,187.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96.04 points, or 0.25%, to 38,807.33.
Market Movers
Nvidia Corp. was already the world’s most valuable semiconductor firm. Now, it’s become the first computer-chip company ever to hit $3 trillion in market capitalization.
The shares of the Santa Clara, California-based firm have rallied roughly 147% this year, adding about $1.8 trillion as the insatiable demand for its chips used to power artificial intelligence tasks skyrockets. On Wednesday, shares rose 5.2% to close at a record $1,224.40, pushing the market value to more than $3 trillion and overtaking Apple Inc. in the process.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. raised its profit outlook for the full year while also beating market expectations for earnings in the first quarter, driving shares up 9.73% in extended trading.
Stitch Fix rose 29%. Not only did the personal styling company’s quarterly earnings come in stronger than expected, management raised its financial guidance for the fiscal year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise soared 11% to $19.48 after the technology company’s quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, partly because of strong demand for AI servers.
Guidewire Software climbed 18% after the insurance software company beat quarterly estimates and boosted its financial outlook.
CrowdStrike Holdings gained 12%. The security software firm was another company to report better-than-expected financial results for its fiscal first quarter, which ended in April.
Videogame retailer GameStop was up 19% after falling 5.4% on Tuesday, while movie theater chain AMC Entertainment was up 7.5% after sliding 0.4%. The stocks have seesawed this week after Keith Gill, the investor known as Roaring Kitty, shared a screenshot purporting to show an enormous stake in the company on social media.
Applied Materials gained 5.3% to $223.37 after Barclays analysts upgraded the chip equipment maker to Equal Weight from Underweight. They raised their target for the stock price to $225 from $165.
Dollar Tree slipped 4.9%. The discount retailer reported quarterly results in line with estimates and said it is considering selling or spinning off its Family Dollar business.
Instacart climbed 2.7% to $30.95. Gordan Haskett analysts upgraded shares of the grocery-delivery company to Buy from Hold and announced a stock-price target of $45.
Market News
ASML to Ship Its $380 Million Chip Machine to TSMC This Year
ASML Holding NV will ship its latest chipmaking machine to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this year.
Two of ASML’s biggest customers, TSMC and Intel Corp., will get the so-called high-NA extreme ultraviolet machine by the end of this year, Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen told analysts in a recent call, according to company spokesperson Monique Mols.
Amazon's Robotaxi Unit Zoox to Begin Testing in Austin, Miami
Amazon.com's robotaxi unit Zoox said on Wednesday it plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, and Miami, a move that would mark its first trial sites outside the western United States.
Zoox will deploy its test fleet of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders with human safety drivers in small areas near the business and entertainment districts of the two cities, it said in a statement.
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