The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on the 21st (local time). The stock market’s rise was driven by anticipation of Nvidia’s earnings announcement, ahead of the release of the minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
At the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 39,872.99, up 66.22 points (0.17%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 index closed up 13.28 points (0.25%) at 5,321.41, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index finished up 37.75 points (0.22%) at 16,832.63. Both the S&P500 and the Nasdaq set new all-time close highs.
Expectations for Nvidia’s earnings, set to be announced on the 22nd, acted as a tailwind for the market on the day. Nvidia’s stock closed up at 0.64%. The company’s stock has more than tripled over the past year, fueled by the AI boom, and has risen over 90% so far this year. The market is expecting Nvidia’s earnings to be strong due to the recent surge in demand in the data center industry.
AI-related stocks also showed strength. Among the Magnificent Seven, Microsoft Corporation (MS) hit an all-time high of $432.97 at one point during the session. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, announced at the annual developer conference Build held in Redmond, Washington, that “all Azure AI users will be able to use GPT-4o starting today.” Apple and Google also closed higher than usual.
However, the rise was limited ahead of the release of the April FOMC minutes on the 22nd. Fed officials who spoke publicly continued to be cautious. According to CNBC, Fed governor Christopher Waller said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) that “central bankers never say never, but the data suggests that inflation is not accelerating, and probably an additional interest rate hike is unnecessary.”
He added, “It seems that the current U.S. economy is getting close to the level the Fed has been expecting,” adding, “My view has not changed that we need to check inflation indicators for a few more months before easing policy because the progress is not that significant.”
Raphael Bostic, Atlanta Fed president and CEO, also met with reporters at the 2024 Financial Market Conference (FMC) and said, “We will not rush to cut interest rates.”
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