Megacap tech and the AI trade power US stocks to fresh records
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 0.3% on Monday.
The Magnificent 7 and most stocks in the AI ecosystem (with the exception of Nvidia) did the lion’s work in propelling the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to another day of record closing highs.
The benchmark US stock index rose 0.5%, the tech-heavy gauge was up 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 0.3% on Monday.
Communications services, tech, and consumer discretionary (the sectors home to the Magnificent 7) were the top-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while defensive sectors like consumer staples and healthcare were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Gains on the day were led by Seagate Technology, which jumped 7.8% after Bank of America boosted its price target on the stock to $215 from $170. Western Digital shares were also up 4.8%. Corteva and J.M. Smucker were among the biggest decliners, falling 5.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Elsewhere…
Alphabet popped 4.5% to become the fourth company to surpass a $3 trillion market cap, joining Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple.
Tesla jumped 3.6% after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a purchase of 2.57 million shares, worth over $1 billion, according to a new SEC filing.
CoreWeave climbed 7.6% after striking an agreement with Nvidia, which will purchase all of CoreWeave’s unused cloud computing capacity through April 2032.
Intel rose 2.9% after the chip giant trimmed its full-year operating expense forecast to $16.8 billion from $17 billion.
IonQ shares gained 6.3% after a wave of analyst price target hikes followed its Analyst Day event at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Chinese EV maker Nio leapt 4.2% after announcing that deliveries of its ES8 SUV — priced to compete with Tesla’s Model Y — will begin this weekend.
Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation rose 0.8% and 4.5%, respectively, after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new FAA pilot program to speed up “advanced air mobility” development.
Novo Nordisk edged up 1.4% after European regulators approved its diabetes pill for cardiovascular benefits as well.
Snap and Meta shook off early declines to close higher after President Trump hinted on Truth Social that a TikTok deal had been reached, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later confirming the framework of an agreement had been achieved.
Alaska Air fell 6.7% after warning that Q3 profits will likely come in at the low end of its prior outlook.
Hims & Hers slipped 2.8% after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called its February Super Bowl ad the “most overt” example of “brazen” online pharmacy marketing tactics.
