Markets
Luke Kawa

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.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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