Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for Feb 23, 2024
Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday, led by technology stocks. Chip stocks continued to dominate headlines, with AI optimism steadfast in its climb northward. All three major stock indexes ended firmly in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 456.87 points, or 1.2%, to close at 39,069.11. Twenty-two components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while eight ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 460.75 points, or 3%, to close at 16,041.62.
The S&P 500 added 105.23 points, or 2.1%, to close at 5,087.03. Ten of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) advanced 3.3%, 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) declined 0.8%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 5.2% to 14.54. A total of 11.9 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 11.6 billion.
Nvidia Earnings Headline Blockbuster Tech Rally
NVIDIA Corporation’s NVDA shares soared 16.4% to an all-time high after the chipmaker reported its fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings and issued guidance for first-quarter fiscal 2025. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenues more than tripled on a year-over-year basis and climbed 22% sequentially to $22.1 billion. Its total revenues rose a mind-boggling 265% from a year ago, driven by the AI boom. For the first quarter of fiscal 2025, NVIDIA anticipates revenues of $24 billion, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.48 billion.
The company reported earnings of $5.16 per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.55 per share. In the fiscal fourth quarter, NVIDIA paid out dividends worth $99 million to shareholders and repurchased stocks worth $2.8 billion. In the 12-month period, the company paid out $395 million in dividends and bought back stocks worth $9.5 billion.
Much of this growth has been on the basis of record sales in the Data Center end market and higher sell-ins to partners across the Gaming and Professional Visualization end markets. The AI boom has lifted the company into the ranks of the largest U.S. companies by capitalization.
Over the past couple of days, the tech sector has lagged the market on apprehension that the earnings report might show the company to be overvalued, as it has grown too big too fast. However, the blockbuster earnings numbers ensured a massive tech rally, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 reach their all-time highs and the tech-focused Nasdaq getting a massive boost.
Consequently, shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. META and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN added 3.9% and 3.6%, respectively. Both currently carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Labor Department said on Thursday that initial jobless claims fell to 201,000, decreasing 12,000 for the week ending Feb 17. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 212,000 to 213,000. The four-week moving average decreased to 215,250, marking a fall of 3,500 from the previous week. The prior week's average was revised up by 250 to 218,750.
Continuing claims came in at 1,862,000 for the week ending Feb 10, decreasing 27,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 6,000 from 1,895,000 to 1,889,000. The four-week moving average was 1,877,500, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average. Last week's average was revised down by 1,500 from 1,870,500 to 1,869,000.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels for the week ending Feb 16, 2024. The previous week’s number remained unchanged at 12 million barrels.
The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales for January totaled 4 million units sold. The number for December had been revised up to 3.88 million units from the previously reported 3.78 million.
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