The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed at new record levels on Friday, thereby capping off a winning week fueled by a tech rally as well as a PCE inflation reading that came in cooler than feared. The S&P 500 hit a new record, rising 0.8% and building on gains that saw the benchmark index rise past 5,000 for the first time last month. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.1%, thereby hitting a new record for a second day in a row.
Among the biggest movers that propelled the Nasdaq’s growth on Friday was chipmaker Nvidia, which ended the day with a market cap exceeding $2 trillion for the first time in its history on the back of an AI wave. Dell shares surged by 31% amid a quarterly sales and profit beat.
Despite market fears, January’s PCE report showed that inflation is continuing to cool, thereby quelling fears that the interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve would be pushed back. Still, some central bank policymakers remain skeptical due to an unwillingness to allow inflation to creep back above the Fed’s 2% target.