The S&P 500 reached another all-time high for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, closing slightly higher along with major stock indexes. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%, marking its fifth straight day of gains. This positive start to the holiday-shortened trading week follows last week’s strong performance. Both the Dow and Nasdaq are now less than 1% away from their own record highs.
Tech stocks showed mixed performance. Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Tesla (TSLA), and Broadcom (AVGO) all saw gains, while Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) experienced declines. Meta’s drop marked its second consecutive day of losses after a 20-session winning streak.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) surged 8%, continuing its impressive rally following the company’s optimistic forecast for AI-driven sales growth. The stock, which reached a peak increase of 19% during Wednesday’s session, has gained 56% over the past week.
On the flip side, Intel (INTC) saw a 6% decline after a significant 16% rise on Tuesday, spurred by reports suggesting the chipmaker might sell parts of its business. The Wall Street Journal reported that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) were considering bids for parts of Intel, while Bloomberg revealed that private equity firm Silver Lake Management was nearing a deal to purchase a majority stake in Intel’s Altera programmable chips division.
Palantir (PLTR) experienced a 10% drop after hitting a record high earlier in the session. The stock plummeted in the final hour of trading following news that the Trump administration had directed the Pentagon to reduce the U.S. defense budget.
Several companies saw significant price movements following earnings reports. Homebuilder Toll Bros (TOL) and cloud networking firm Arista Networks (ANET) each fell about 6%, while specialty chemicals maker Celanese (CE) plunged 21%, leading S&P 500 decliners. In contrast, semiconductor company Analog Devices (ADI) and GPS device maker Garmin (GRMN) posted gains of nearly 10% and 13%, respectively.
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries stood at 4.54%, relatively unchanged from the previous day. The Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes, released Wednesday, indicated that the central bank is not in a hurry to cut interest rates due to concerns over persistent inflation and uncertainty regarding the impact of Donald Trump’s economic policies.
Bitcoin traded at $96,500, up from a low of around $94,000. Gold futures edged down to around $2,940 per ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.6% to $72.25 per barrel.
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