The major US stock indices closed higher, led by the Nasdaq, as strong earnings from Nvidia, Salesforce and CrowdStrike reignited enthusiasm for the AI and technology trades.
The closing levels show:
- Dow industrial average rose 104.99 points, or 0.20%, to 53,574.35
- S&P 500 rose 55.15 points, or 0.72%, to 7,730.86
- Nasdaq Composite surged 411.16 points, or 1.57%, to 26,541.35
- Russell 2000 gained 8.44 points, or 0.28%, to 3,014.34
- Nasdaq 100 rose 417.04 points, or 1.43%, to 29,641.56
Technology shares dominated the session following another strong quarter from Nvidia. The chipmaker easily beat expectations, issued revenue guidance above Wall Street forecasts and projected approximately 70% revenue growth for fiscal 2028. Nvidia shares rose 8.74% to $227.98.
Salesforce was the day’s biggest high-profile winner, soaring 22.60% following better-than-expected earnings, increased full-year guidance and an expanded partnership with Anthropic. CrowdStrike also surged 20.52% after topping expectations and raising its annual revenue outlook.
Other notable gainers included:
- Salesforce: +22.60%
- CrowdStrike: +20.52%
- Synopsys: +13.39%
- Palo Alto Networks: +12.83%
- Strategy: +11.53%
- Fortinet: +9.62%
- Nvidia: +8.74%
The strength in Salesforce, CrowdStrike and other cybersecurity and software shares helped ease concerns that generative AI would disrupt established software companies. Instead, investors focused on the potential for those companies to incorporate AI into their existing products and generate additional growth.
Although all the major indices finished higher, the Nasdaq clearly outperformed as technology shares accounted for the bulk of the market’s gains. The relatively modest increases in the Dow and Russell 2000 showed that enthusiasm was not spread evenly across the broader market.
With the major earnings now out of the way, attention shifts back toward monetary policy. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver his Jackson Hole address on Friday, with traders listening for clues about inflation, interest rates and the possibility of another Fed rate hike.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.