(New York) The technology sector once again pulled Wall Street higher on Friday, with the broader S&P 500 index closing for the first time above the symbolic 5,000 point mark.
The Dow Jones returned 0.14% to 38,671.69 points, but the technology-dominated NASDAQ jumped 1.25% to 15,990.66 points.
The S&P 500, the most representative of the American market, gained 0.57%, registering 26 points above 5,000 points for the first time in its existence, a new record.
The broader index, created in 1857, crossed this threshold, more psychological than technical for traders, almost three years after passing 4000 points in April 2021.
Since the start of the year, it has gained about 5%.
“We are in an environment where we have to follow the leaders while technology clearly continues to be the locomotive” of the market, commented Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.
Technology mega-capitalizations thus drove the session, such as Nvidia which gained 3.58% to $721, Tesla (+2.12%) or Amazon (+2.71%).
The semiconductor sector also led the way with Intel (+1.91%) and AMD (+1.85%).
The microprocessor manufacturer Arm Holding, which had made a staggering 48% jump the day before, adding some $100 billion in capitalization in a single session, continued to progress. The stock listed in New York, of the British subsidiary of the Japanese group Softbank, gained another 1.16%.
SoftBank, its Japanese parent company, announced Thursday that it had generated a net profit of 950 billion yen (5.9 billion euros), compared to a heavy loss equivalent to 5.5 billion euros a year earlier, welcoming to have diversified its investment portfolio in recent years, to initiate a shift towards artificial intelligence via Arm.
But also, the electronic chip sector has benefited from information according to which Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, the group which developed the artificial intelligence services of the same name, is seeking to raise trillions of dollars to boost the global semiconductor industry.
“The optimists are on the move and the equity environment is entering a somewhat abnormal phase,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, who judges the values “a little inflated.”
“We may be witnessing the start of a peak movement before a consolidation which may last a few months. I’m not saying it’s going to happen now, but some of these stocks are really at the top of the scale,” the analyst said.
As for bond yields, rates trended very slightly upwards to 4.17% for ten-year bonds.
Elsewhere on the stock market, cloud cybersecurity services company Cloudflare soared 19.38% after better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, with revenue increasing 32% year-on-year.
Pepsico shares fell 3.55% after falling sales in the fourth quarter, weighed down in particular by Quaker cereals, but the agri-food group expects a return to growth this year.
The highly volatile action of the AMC cinema chain gained 7.21% to $4.38 after mixed quarterly results which nonetheless showed growth in subscribers to its streaming service. streaming.
The social network Pinterest fell 9.50% to $36.85 after disappointing sales and projections below analysts’ hopes.
Travel booking site Expedia plunged 17.78% after an unexpected change in leadership.
The TSX on the rise
The main Canadian stock index recorded a slight gain on Friday, while the American markets experienced a mixed session, still marked by a never-before-reached closing threshold for the S&P 500 of more than 5,000 points.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 89.96 points to 21,009.60.
On the S&P 500, technology and consumer discretionary were among the leading sectors, but other areas such as financials, healthcare and utilities were also strong, noted Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones . She sees it as a positive signal.
“This idea that we’re expanding market participation a little bit, I think, is starting to show signs of life,” she said.
“We’re probably just at the beginning, because where we haven’t really seen a pick-up in participation is in other parts of the market cap spectrum, so small caps, and even mid-caps, have lagged to some extent this year,” added Mr.me Mahajan.
She therefore believes that there could be “some recovery or catch-up in these market segments, especially if we continue to see a resilient economy”.
US markets have risen more or less in a straight line since October, Ms.me Mahajan.
A period of consolidation is possible at some point, she noted, given the strength and persistence of the surge in markets.
But such a period would be more of a buying opportunity ahead of further gains than a marker of a new period, she argued.
In Canada, the latest jobs report showed the economy added 37,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate fell for the first time since December 2022.
The Bank of Canada will continue to be patient in waiting for the right time to start cutting rates, Mr.me Mahajan.
“But keep in mind the difference between the United States and Canada,” she stressed. The Canadian economy has already shown signs of slowing. The U.S. economy continues to maintain above-trend growth. »
The Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely begin cutting rates in June, she said, but if one cuts first, it will likely be the central bank north of the border due to of the slowdown in the economy.
The Canadian dollar traded at 74.28 US cents, up from 74.26 US cents on Thursday.
On the New York commodities exchange, crude oil rose 62 cents to US$76.84 per barrel and natural gas fell seven cents to US$1.85 per million BTU.
The gold contract was down US$9.20 at US$2,038.70 an ounce and the copper contract was down two cents at US$3.68 a pound.
The Canadian Press