Wall Street today : US stocks ended Thursday higher on the back of Micron Technology driving the beat on AI-related stocks. On a more auspicious note, this was going to tend to influence the technology sector since it sparked an appetite for artificial intelligence. This frenzy in AI-perceived stocks took the broader market to positive territories, driving major indices up.
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Major Stock Market Indices Up
As the day of trading started, the stock market was already moving up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 219.41 to 42,134.16 up 0.52% by 9:46 am. The S&P 500 increased 37.03 points to 5,759.29 for a 0.65% increase. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 201.80 points to 18,284.01 for 1.12% increase.
The Dow started the day higher by 198.7 points, or 0.47%, to 42,113.42. The S&P 500 added 40 points, or 0.70%, to 5,762.22, while the Nasdaq Composite surged even more, rising 245.1 points, or 1.36%, to 18,327.34.
Wall Street today : Technologies and semiconductors, along with Micron Technology that made some stellar plays, led the way.
Micron Technology: Entering the AI Phase
Micron Technology revived the AI frenzy, which will see its shares increase by an astonishing 17.3% as the chipmaker reported better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter. The gain from revenue was supported by the growing demand for memory chips for AI technologies. It also reported a far stronger-than-anticipated profit for the second quarter, boosting investor confidence.
The revenue forecast highlighted the rising trend of AI across different sectors, and memory chips formed the core infrastructure of AI. The report explained how the higher demand in processing needs as AI integration goes on to affect industries like healthcare and finance has seen Micron be at the center of the AI revolution, thus attracting investor attention and the technology sector just a notch higher.
Other chipmakers also rode the boom as Micron’s performance was impressive. For one, AI-driven hardware major player Nvidia’s stock rose by 2.8%. Many AI applications, such as machine learning and data analytics, depend on the main processing units which Nvidia produces. Advanced Micro Devices also gained 3.6% since interest in AI technologies picked up. Another significant chip maker, Broadcom, also picked up 2.2% on its shares as investor AI craze spilled into the broader chip sector.
The rally on account of AI has again reconfirmed that semiconductors would remain an integral part of the ultimate contours of AI development with companies like Micron, Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom in line to rake in the spoils of the next wave of this developing technology.
Broader Market Gains and Other Key Movers
Beyond technology and AI, the market as a whole seems to have done well in other sectors. Investors turned optimistic mainly on strong economic indicators, such as jobless claims figures coming out better than expected during the week ending September 21. Fewer people filing for unemployment benefits indicated that the job market was still quite robust, thereby strengthening overall market sentiment.
No doubt, perhaps none stood out more than Southwest Airlines, which rose 9.7% after the airline said that it now expects to raise its third-quarter revenue forecast. This was because of higher demand in air travel, an indication that the travel industry continues down its road to recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors perceived this as a good development for the broader airline sector since a higher demand for travel usually translates to better financials for airlines.
The IT services company, Accenture, showcased remarkable growth as its stock gained 7% when the firm presented annual revenue above the estimates of the analysts on Wall Street, driven by high demand in consulting services by firms on matters of digital transformation and cloud computing. Since firms are resorting to digital tools and strategies, companies like Accenture could actually benefit from this.
Jabil: Electronics maker Jabil reported a better than expected profit and revenue for its last quarter. As a result, the stock jumped 13.4%. The robust outcome of the electronics manufacturing company was particularly reflective of the industry’s overall health and strength, particularly in terms of consumer electronics and industrial products demand.
Bond Market Update
The market for bonds seems to have been stable while the stock market rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury stood at 3.79 percent, showing little movement from where it was earlier in the week. The 2-year yield was higher, though by just 5 basis points, to 3.61 percent from 3.56 percent. The stability of bonds reflected that investors were staying quite confident in the overall outlook for the economy, even if they had worries about inflation and interest rates.
Precious Metals on a Rally: Silver and Gold Shine Brighter
Silver prices surged by their largest in nearly 12 years on Thursday in the market for precious metals. Spot silver rose 1.3 percent to 32.26 per ounce as of 12:34 GMT after having touched a high of 32.71 earlier in the day, the best price for silver since December 2012. The metal demand with industrial applications-in electronics and renewable energy-was highly needed.
Meanwhile, gold continued on its climb as spot gold gained 0.6 percent to $2,673.21 an ounce. Gold hits a record high at $2,685.42 earlier today as investors pile up their assets in havens due to the economic uncertainty being felt until now. The US gold futures for delivery in December also edged up by 0.4 percent to $2,696.30. A general angst over inflation and geopolitical risks-have boosted investors into precious metals in the past as a store of value-thus underlies the ramping-up in prices of gold. Maybe it’s the seismic shift towards innovation in taking oil from every nook and corner, probably even your bathtubs. Crude oil falls as Saudi Arabia boosts output
Crude oil prices fell for the second successive day despite the positive move in the stock and precious metals market. According to reports, Saudi Arabia is keen on increasing the oil it produces in December, which was weighing on global oil prices.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, went below $72 per barrel; WTI-the US benchmark going at about $68 per barrel. This was mainly due to fear of oversupply in the market because it would arise from Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest oil producers.
Conclusion
Thursday’s stock rally was broad-based, but optimism surrounding Micron Technology’s more favorable-than-expected revenue outlook served as the AI catalyst. Hope from the technology sector, particularly semiconductors, spilled over into Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom among others.
The other things to win were airlines and IT services, driven by better than expected improvement in revenue projections and stronger-than-expected economic data. Yet as equities and precious metals increased in the week, crude oil edged lower on concern that supply may rise more than expectations.
This shift, though still under development, will only change the future of industries and propel investors to focus keenly on companies that stand a good chance of reaping the fruits of such technological revolution, especially those in the semiconductor and tech industries.