S&P 500 hovers near 5,500 level as Nvidia's surge continues

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• Thu June 20, 2024 at 6:55 p.m. GMT+2

  Stocks turn negative after S&P 500 briefly breaches 5,500 level

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell into red territory on Thursday, reversing gains from earlier in the morning.

  Both indexes opened the session higher, with the S&P 500 briefly crossing the 5,500 level. As of 12:50 p.m. ET, the broader benchmark was down nearly 0.2%, while the Nasdaq , with a strong technological component, fell by 0.5%.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was still clinging to its gains as Salesforce (CRM) and ExxonMobil (XOM) led the blue-chip index up 0.4%.

• Thu June 20, 2024 at 6:32 p.m. GMT+2

  Dell and Super Micro stocks are on the move after Musk says the companies will provide hardware for xAI

  Shares of Dell (DELL) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) jumped Thursday after xAI founder Elon Musk said the companies are supplying hardware for the supercomputer his AI startup is building .

  As Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban reports, these increases underscore Wall Street's enthusiasm for AI technology.

  Investors are clamoring to invest in AI companies at all levels of development, from major consumer brands selling AI-based applications to manufacturers supplying the chips and servers powering the Informatique infrastructure.

  Shares of Dell rose as much as 5% on Thursday while shares of Super Micro climbed nearly 9% before paring gains.

  Dell CEO Michael Dell caused his company's stock price to jump when he said in a post on Wednesday X, “We're building a Dell AI factory with Nvidia to power Grok for xAI.”

• Thu June 20, 2024 at 5:47 p.m. GMT+2

  Energy stocks lead gains

  Energy-related stocks led Thursday's gains, with the S&P 500 Energy Select ETF (XLE) up more than 1%, helping to propel the S&P 500 (^GSPC) to new highs.

  Oil giants ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) each rose more than 1.5%. The energy sector has gained more than 7% this year, compared with 15% year-to-date for the broader benchmark.

  On Thursday, the S&P 500 index rose 0.5%, briefly breaching the 5,500 level for the first time.

• Thu June 20, 2024 at 4:51 p.m. GMT+2

  Thursday trending tickers

  The top trending tickers on Yahoo Finance on Thursday were all technology-related.

  NVIDIA (NVDA)

  Shares of the chip giant rose 3% Thursday morning, hitting new highs. Earlier this week, Nvidia surpassed Microsoft (MSFT) as the world's most valuable company.

  Dell Technologies (DELL)

  Dell stock rose after CEO Michael Dell revealed that the hardware giant was working with Nvidia to build an AI factory for xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company.

  “We're building a Dell AI factory with @nvidia to power @grok for @xai @elonmusk,” Dell wrote on X on Wednesday.

  Super microcomputer (SMCI)

  SMCI jumped more than 8% after billionaire Elon Musk said his artificial intelligence startup xAI would use server racks from Dell and Super Micro Computer.

  Since the beginning of the year, the stock is up more than 240%.

• Thu June 20, 2024 at 4:06 p.m. GMT+2

  S&P 500 crosses 5,500 mark for first time, Nasdaq also hits new highs

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) crossed the 5,500 level for the first time on Thursday as Nvidia (NVDA) stock continued its steady rise.

  The broader index rose 0.5% after recording its 31st record close of the year on Tuesday.

  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.3% to also hit record highs during Thursday's session.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.3%.

• Thursday June 20, 2024 at 3:50 p.m. GMT+2

  Housing starts reach 4-year low as construction “continues to weaken”

  New government data released on Thursday shows residential housing construction activity fell to its lowest level in four years.

  Housing starts fell 5.5% in May from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.277 million. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 1.370 million housing starts.

  “The decline in housing starts in May is consistent with the recent slowdown in permitting, indicating that construction continues to weaken this year,” wrote Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics, after publication.

  “This calls into question our forecast that construction, particularly in the single-family sector, would be thriving this year given the lack of alternatives for buyers in the resale market. »

  Separate data released Wednesday showed homebuilders are losing confidence in the housing market. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) fell to a five-month low of 43 in June. Builders pointed to 7% mortgage rates as the cause, pushing many potential buyers to the sidelines.

• Thu June 20, 2024 at 3:32 p.m. GMT+2

  S&P 500 hits new high as Nvidia continues to climb

  The Nasdaq and S&P 500 opened higher on Thursday as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) continued to climb.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained about 0.4% to hit a new record high after notching its 31st record close of the year on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell just below the flat line.

  Nvidia became the world's most valuable public company on Tuesday. Its rise after the June 19 holiday continued Thursday morning as shares rose more than 2%.