US stocks gain, small caps surge
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.4%, and the Russell 2000 small-cap gauge soared 1.7% on Thursday.
Furthermore, 438 constituents in the benchmark US stock gauge advanced, the most since Election Day.
Every S&P 500 sector ETF was positive except for communication services, which was dragged down by Alphabet, the worst performer in the index with a 4.7% loss. The Department of Justice asked a federal court to compel the search giant to take steps to diminish its dominant market position.
Shares of MicroStrategy slid 16.2% after Citron Research revealed that it had a short position on the software company turned bitcoin proxy. However, MARA Holdings, another crypto-linked firm, jumped 6.9%.
Nvidia rose a relatively modest 0.5% after reporting better-than-expected results, but trailed the VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which rose 1.5%.
Super Micro Computer’s topsy-turvy ride continues, erasing Wednesday’s 8.7% loss with a 15.1% advance after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called the embattled server company one of its “great partners” during an earnings call.
John Deere spiked 8.1% even after reporting a subpar profit outlook amid hopes for a positive inflection in agriculture.
The US dollar continues to be on a tear, with the Dollar Spot Index up to its highest level since November 2022.
