Nvidia helps drive US markets to new highs

American markets closed at record highs for the second consecutive ­session, boosted by technology shares ahead of the corporate earnings season.
By the close of trading on Wall Street, which was lighter than usual due to bond markets being shut for the ­Columbus Day holiday, the broadly based S&P 500, regarded as a barometer of the health of the world’s largest economy, had risen 44.82 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 5,859.85, its 46th new high of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 201.36 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 43,065.22, its 37th closing high this year. The technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.9 per cent to 18,502.69, its third-highest close taking it 0.8 per cent from its record high in July of 18,647.45.
Strong demand for Nvidia’s current and next-generation AI processors pushed the stock up 2.4 per cent to a new high of $138.07, putting it on track to topple Apple as the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft account for about a fifth of the S&P 500’s weight.
The dollar touched a nine-week high against a basket of world currencies and was 0.1 per cent up against sterling at $1.3055.
The corporate earnings season kicked off on Friday with strong financial results from JP Morgan Chase and BlackRock. High-profile earnings due for the rest of the week include Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Netflix, along with a host of healthcare and industrial names.
Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, a wealth manager, said: “The smattering of earnings so far have been pretty good. We’ll see what this coming week brings.” He added: “Momentum is on the upside until something changes.”
‘Lower commodity prices kept a lid on gains in American and European markets ­yesterday. ­Investors had hoped that a highly anticipated weekend update from China’s finance ­minister would yield further stimulus measures, but it failed to meet expectations. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was 2 per cent lower at $77.46 a barrel.
“China is having economic difficulties,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York, said. “Oil prices are another indication of lack of confidence that China will be able to pull itself up by its own boot straps, primarily because the stimulus details are so sketchy.”