Nasdaq closed significantly higher Thursday after Alphabet and AMD resulted in mega-cap rally due to the fresh optimism regarding the artificial intelligence. Shares of Alphabet climbed over ~5% because analysts welcomed launch of Google-parent’s newest artificial intelligence model. AMD soared by ~10% after it projected that expected market for data center AI chips might touch ~$45 billion in this year. There were several other technology stocks joining this momentum, with Nvidia and Meta Platforms increasing more than ~2%, Amazon climbing ~1.6% and Apple ending ~1% higher.
Philadelphia semiconductor index climbed 2.8%, which led to the 2023 gain of ~48%. A major part of these gains were seen because of the optimism regarding the AI’s future. Since Nasdaq ended the day higher, this time it was a tech-fuelled rally. S&P 500 continued to climb since October end as investors believed that the US Fed finished campaign of raising interest rate. Some traders and analysts also believed that the rate cuts might begin as early as March 2024.
Since Nasdaq ended the day higher, the S&P 500 saw an increase of ~0.80% to close the session at ~4,585.59 points, with Nasdaq Composite jumping ~1.37% to 14,339.99 points and Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing ~0.18% to 36,117.57 points. Thursday’s data exhibited that the number of Americans going for new claims for unemployment benefits increased less than anticipated last week to the seasonally adjusted figure of ~220,000 for this week.
The Japanese yen saw an increase on Thursday as Bank of Japan policymakers provided hints that central bank might shift away from significantly-low interest rate plan. Yen surged ~2.39% against the USD, and was the biggest one-day increase since 12th January at 143.86 per dollar after the comments from the Bank of Japan’s Governor.
Elsewhere, European shares ended lower because the recent rally stalled, and the STOXX 600 index was down by ~0.27%, and MSCI’s gauge of stocks throughout the globe increased ~0.48% and was on track for its first increase post three consecutive declines.
On the commodities front, the US crude ended lower by ~0.06% to settle the day at $69.34 a barrel, with Brent crude closing at ~$74.05 per barrel, exhibiting a fall of ~0.34%.
In India, benchmark equity indexes Sensex and Nifty ended their 7-day winning streak as Indians decided to book profits amid negative hints from the overall Asian markets. BSE Sensex declined 132.04 points, or 0.19% to ~69,521.69. Nifty50 ended lower, as the index declined by ~36.55 points, or 0.17% to end at ~20,901.15.
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