The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped Thursday as investors cheered the latest quarterly results from Nvidia. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid after Fitch Ratings placed the United States’ AAA rating on a negative rating watch.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, and the Nasdaq popped 1.5%. The Dow traded 106 points lower, or 0.3%.
Nvidia shares surged 25% after the artificial intelligence beneficiary gave stronger-than-expected revenue guidance for its fiscal second quarter, while also reporting beats on the top and bottom line in the previous quarter. Several analysts covering the stock hiked their price targets on the stock following the results.
Other semiconductor stocks followed Nvidia higher, including AMD and Taiwan Semiconductor, which rose around 9% each. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) popped 6.7%.
“The macro point is that innovation in technology can outweigh the headwinds of a slowing economy, or higher interest rates,” said Dylan Kremer, co-chief investment officer of Certuity. “Technology in particular and growth stocks are not dead.”
Nvidia shares 1-day
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings put the U.S.’ AAA long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating on a negative watch. The rating agency said the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations have raised the risks that the government could miss payments on some of its obligations. However, Fitch said it still expects a resolution before the X-date.
“I think everyone is looking at the Nvidia story and running with it because it is a welcome break from debt ceiling talks, banking fears, and inflation along with Fed tightening,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Debt ceiling negotiations continued to weigh on the major averages. The talks hit a hurdle earlier Wednesday. On Thursday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated negotiations were making progress, but that major headwinds remained to solidify a deal.
A revision from the Commerce Department on Thursday showed stronger economic growth than previously thought. U.S. gross domestic product increased 1.3% on an annualized pace from January through March, a 0.2 percentage point increase to previous estimates. April pending home sales data is also on deck after the open. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a rise of 0.8%, up from the decline of 5.2% the prior month.
— CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this story.
