S&P 500, Nasdaq close at fresh records on AI boost

NEW YORK — US stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs, as technology stocks rallied on continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI), with further support from declining Treasury yields.

The gains marked the second straight closing record for the Nasdaq, which also set an intraday record as AI-related names such as Nvidia and Meta Platforms led it past its prior peak of 16,212.23 set in November 2021.

Through the end of February, the three major indexes notched their fourth straight month of gains in a rally largely fueled by growth prospects related to AI, which has also lifted semiconductor names.

On Friday, shares of Nvidia climbed 4% and closed above $2 trillion in market value for the first time. Rival Advanced Micro Devices shares gained 5.25% to a record high close of $202.64, while the broader Philadelphia semiconductor index also closed at a record after a jump of 4.29% on the session.

Markets have drawn support from a resilient economy, as investors have tried to gauge the timing of the first interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, with investors currently targeting June and growing expectations the central bank can engineer a soft landing for the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 90.99 points or 0.23% to 39,087.38; the S&P 500 gained 40.81 points or 0.8% to 5,137.08; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 183.02 points or 1.14% to 16,274.94.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.95%; the Nasdaq rose 1.74%; and the Dow fell 0.11%.

Despite a strong services sector and tight labor market, the economy still shows pockets of weakness, notably in manufacturing, although data on Friday included some signs of a possible rebound.

That helped push US Treasury yields lower, with the two-year note yield falling to as low as 4.519%.

Fed Governor Chris Waller said upcoming decisions about the ultimate size of its balance sheet have no bearing on its inflation fight.

The S&P 500 tech index the top performer of the 11 major sectors, gaining 1.78%, while utilities were weakest, showing a decline of 0.72%.

Among major movers, New York Community Bancorp tumbled 25.89% after the regional lender said it had found “material weaknesses” in internal controls related to its loan review and revised its fourth-quarter loss to 10 times above the previously stated numbers, which helped send the KBW regional banking index 1.27% lower.

Dell Technologies urged 31.62%, its biggest daily percentage gain ever, after the personal computer maker forecast annual revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.55-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 87 new 52week highs and two new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 363 new highs and 88 new lows. —