by Noel Randewich and Shreyashi Sanyal
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended in disarray on Thursday as the Nasdaq was lifted by Nvidia which announced a quarterly profit forecast well above expectations, while investors continued to wait for a breakthrough in negotiations on the US debt ceiling.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.11% to 32,764.65 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 0.88% to 4,151.28 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 1.71% to 12,698.09 points.
Nvidia jumped 24% to an all-time high after saying it expected quarterly profit 50% better than estimates.
The semiconductor manufacturer also announced an acceleration of its production to meet the increased demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Noting that investors are “obsessed with AI,” Jake Dollarhide, managing director of Longbow Asset Management in Oklahoma, said “Nvidia is the perfect story” on the matter.
In the wake of Nvidia, the main players in the artificial intelligence sector, Microsoft and Alphabet, also reaped gains, as did other semiconductor manufacturers, such as Advanced Micro Devices which took around 11% and Micron Technology.
Intel, considered by investors to be behind in the field of AI, for its part fell 5.5%.
A climate of nervousness reigns these days on Wall Street, the investors being on the lookout for any progress in the negotiations on the raising of the ceiling of the debt of the United States amid the specter of a default in payment in June.
Citing sources familiar with the talks, Reuters reported today that Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy were close to an agreement.
Reflecting the climate of uncertainty in the market, the yield on two-year US Treasuries rose to its highest since March after Fitch announced that it was placing the United States’ AAA rating on review.
A report from the US Department of Commerce also confirmed that economic growth had slowed in the first quarter.
( Jean Terzian)
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