Traders on the NYSE floor, May 11, 2023.
Source: NYSE
S&P 500 futures were higher on Thursday morning as investors looked into it benchmark to add to the latest record.
Futures linked to the broad market index added 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures they changed little.
Stocks are headed for a winning week after the S&P 500 hit a new record on Tuesday, along with the Nasdaq Composite. Stock markets are closed Wednesday for the Juneteenth holiday.
Nvidia leading higher costs as artificial intelligence and the chip maker overtake Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia shares are up 174% in 2024, as the AI boom continues to boost equities. On Thursday, the stock rose another 2.9%.
Nvidia shares have risen 174% in 2024.
Nvidia has surpassed Apple in market cap in June, and has cemented its place as the de facto market leader in AI-themed leadership on Wall Street. Investors continue to pile into AI heavyweights even as consumers show signs of spending and signaling potential economic weakness. Nvidia’s rise has spilled over to its peer chipmaker Broadcomwhich increases to more than 61% in 2024.
“Is it any surprise that we continue to argue that Wall Street (ie, the SP 500) beats a different drum than Main Street (with the fundamentals of the US economy)?” Citi’s chief equity strategist, Scott Chronert, wrote in a note Tuesday. “Without a doubt, the impact of generative AI is an incremental growth driver that continues to permeate today’s US equity environment.”
However, some commentators have noted concerns that the market shortfall outside the biggest tech companies could worsen, although dour sentiment has yet to affect stocks that continue to break records.
“(The theme of AI) has a very 2000-2001’esque feel, but we know the market can remain irrational more than you can remain solvent,” said Thomas Fitzpatrick, managing director at RJ O’Brien and Associates. “A day of reckoning will come but (it’s) difficult to stop the speeding train.”
Investors will also digest new economic data in the second half of the week, including initial jobless claims figures and housing starts data on Thursday morning.
