Analysts working at the Nasdaq.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Nasdaq Composite rose to an all-time high Friday, surpassing its 2021 record, as investors bet that megacap technology stocks were the best way to play slowing inflation and a coming artificial intelligence boom.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.14% to 16,274.94, notching a new high of 16,302.24 during the session. A day earlier, the index closed at its first record since November 2021. The S&P 500 added 0.80% to 5,137.08 for its first close above the 5,100 threshold. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 90.99 points, or 0.23%, to 39,087.38.
Chipmaking giant Nvidia, which has led the tech rally by surging more than 260% over the last 12 months, was up another 4% Friday. Meta also jumped more than 2% for the day.
On a weekly basis, the Nasdaq added 1.74%, while the S&P 500, which also popped to a record close on Thursday, advanced 0.95%. Both indexes notched their seventh positive week over the last eight. The 30-stock Dow is the laggard, down 0.11%.
The Nasdaq was the last of the major U.S. stock benchmarks to reach a record close this year, when it achieved the milestone Thursday. Enthusiasm over AI has lifted mega-cap tech stocks – and the broader market – through 2023 and into this year. Slowing inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s ensuing pivot toward rate cuts forecasted for later in 2024, have also contributed to the Nasdaq’s recovery from a difficult 2022.
The Nasdaq Composite over the last five years
“We’re seeing this big run up in tech because there’s a massive emphasis on what it might be — there’s so much emphasis on AI and this big sort-of redux of the late 90s,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
“People [now] just completely disregard the rest of the market. And that’s generally does not turn out well,” Cox added.
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