Stocks closed mixed on Friday with both the Dow and the S&P 500 closing at fresh highs, as investors continue to ride the market's year-long tech inspired rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.16% to close at 39,131.53, while the S&P 500 rose 0.03% to 5,088.80, after breaking above 5,100 for the first time earlier in the session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.28% to 15,996.82.
For the week, the S&P 500 advanced 1.66%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.4% this week. The Dow is up 1.3% for the period, according to CNBC.
Nvidia shares topped the $2 trillion mark, just 269 days after it breached the $1 trillion threshold, following the AI chipmaker's stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and outlook earlier this week.
Nvidia finished up slightly to $788.17.
Updated at 11:54 AM EST
Tech red
The Nasdaq slipped modestly lower in mid-day trading, even as Treasury yields retreated from their early-session peaks and Nvidia topped the $2 trillion market cap threshold, as investors appear comfortable booking some profits after a solid week for the tech-focused benchmark.
Benchmark 10-year note yields, which traded as high as 4.345% in early dealing, were last marked 8 basis points lower at 4.265%, with 2-year notes pegged at 4.685%
The S&P 500, meanwhile, is holding onto a slim 5 point gain, with the Dow up 128 points thanks in part outsized gains for Nike (NKE) , Amgen (AMGN) and Goldman Sachs (GS) .
Main Stages in a Bubble!
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) February 23, 2024
If this is a bubble, then where are we?
Or this time, it's different? 🤔 https://t.co/I6YemGDVl5 pic.twitter.com/R391Ug9Vq9
Updated at 10:24 AM EST
Magnificent 60%?
The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high again Friday, rising to 5,111.06 points in early trading, as the broadest measure of U.S. bluechip stocks continues to benefit from the outsized gains of the world's biggest tech companies.
Bank of America's weekly "Flow Show" report, in fact, noted that the benchmark's one-year gain of 25% has been largely powered by the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks (Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Tesla), and nearly 80% of the S&P 500's return is down to just the top 20 stocks.
Updated at 9:44 AM EST
Two bags
Nvidia shares topped the $2 trillion mark, just 269 days after it breached the $1 trillion threshold, following the AI chipmaker's stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and outlook earlier this week.
Nvidia shares were last marked 4.1% higher in early Friday trading and changing hands at $817.40 each, a move that extends the stock's astonishing 2024 gain to around 70% and values the group at $2.05 trillion.
Related: Nvidia crushes earnings, stock soars. Time to buy AMD?
Updated at 9:14 AM EST
That's all, folks ...
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares slumped lower in heavy pre-market volume after the media and entertainment group pulled its full-year profit guidance following a bigger-than-expected fourth quarter loss tied to the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes.
"We have an attack plan for 2024 that includes the roll-out of Max in key international markets, a more robust creative pipeline across our film and TV studios, and further progress against our long-range financial goals," said CEO David Zaslav.
WBD shares were marked 8.6% lower in pre-market trading and indicating an opening bell price of $8.74 each.
$WBD reported Q4 adj. EPS of ($0.16), $0.06 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.10); Total revenue dipped by 7% to $10.28B, missing Wall Street estimates of $10.46B; Advertising revenue at its networks segment declined 12% to $1.95B. https://t.co/MdL0PXy618
— notreload (@thudderwicks) February 23, 2024
Stock Market Today
Nvidia's (NVDA) stunning Thursday surge, which added more than $277 billion to the AI-chip maker's market value — the single-largest market gain in U.S. history — helped power the S&P 500 to an all-time high of 5,087.03 points.
Investors repriced AI and tech stocks across the board in the wake of Nvidia's stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, which included a robust near-term sales outlook, driving the Nasdaq nearly 3% higher and to within 1% of the all-time high it reached in November 2021.
Nvidia shares, meanwhile, were still marked 1.75% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $799.21 each and a market value of $1.95 trillion.
Related: Analysts revamp Nvidia price targets as stock tests $2 trillion
Adding to the bullish sentiment: another round of solid jobs data, which showed applications for unemployment benefits falling to 201,000 over the week ended Feb. 17, as well as indications that broader business activity continued to accelerate in February.
However, inflation concerns have rekindled among bond traders over the past week, first sparked by a stronger-than-expected January Consumer Price Index report and fanned with hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials and minutes from the central bank's last policy meeting.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, in fact, told an event in Minneapolis last night that "the risk of waiting a little longer to ease policy is lower than the risk of acting too soon and possibly halting or reversing the progress we’ve made on inflation."
Benchmark 10-year note yields, which have risen around 45 basis points over the past three weeks, were last marked 2 basis points higher from Thursday's close at 4.345% in the wake of Waller's comments.
The odds of a May Fed rate cut, meanwhile, have slumped to around 20%, with bets on reductions beginning in June pegged at around 52.8%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
On Wall Street, stocks are set for a mixed but muted open to finish off the week, with futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 indicating a 2 point opening bell bump from last night's record close.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, are indicating a 65 point gain while those tied to the Nasdaq suggest a 20 point pullback.
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marked 0.13% higher in early Frankfurt trading, while Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed from last night's close.
Overnight in Asia, the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index was marked 0.13% higher into the close of trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 was closed for the annual observance of the Emperor's Birthday.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
