Stock market today: Dow soars 461 points while Nasdaq wavers as tech shares slip
Jeff Chiu/ AP Images
- Indexes ended higher, with a 460-point gain for the Dow.
- Wall Street cheered Nvidia earnings, raising price targets for the chip maker.
- Other Big Tech shares struggled, with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft ending lower.
Indexes ended higher on Thursday as traders digested another solid earnings beat from Nvidia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by almost 500 points, and the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq traded nearly flat as several mega-cap tech names struggled throughout the day.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 5,948.71, up 0.53%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 43,870.35, up 1.06% (+461.88 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 18,972.42, up 0.03%
Nvidia stock whipsawed throughout the day, flipping between losses and gains before ending the day slightly higher, up 0.5% to $146.67 per share.
The company reported another solid earnings beat, with revenue exceeding expectations and guidance coming largely in line with estimates.
Over 20 firms boosted their Nvidia price targets afterward. JPMorgan upped its price target from $155 to $170, pointing to its strong competitive edge, while Goldman Sachs lifted its target from $150 to $165 on the expectation the company can deliver over $200 billion in revenue next year.
"The team continues to maintain a 1- 2 step lead ahead of competitors with its silicon/hardware/software platforms," JPMorgan analysts wrote Thursday, adding, "The team is further distancing itself with its aggressive cadence of new product launches and more product segmentation over time."
Meanwhile, tech stocks largely sold off. Google parent Alphabet ended over 4.5% lower as the US Department of Justice called for the company to divest its Chrome business in an anti-trust push.
Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft also closed lower.
Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims dropped again last week, falling to 213,000, a 6,000 decline from the week before, according to data released Thursday. That number remains near the lowest since April.
Continuing claims, or the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, remain high, though. Those claims rose to their highest in three years at 1.91 million last week, a 36,000 increase from the week before.
Here's what else is going on:
- This chart shows how Nvidia's revenue has exploded in recent years.
- The US is ramping up sanctions by targeting the last major Russian bank not yet blacklisted.
- Netflix's stock could soar 13% as Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson showcased a "knockout opportunity" in live events, BofA says.
- Bitcoin rockets toward $100,000 as Trump reportedly considers appointing a "crypto czar."
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil futures rose. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $70.12 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, also rose 2% to $74.33 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.8% to $2,671.90 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was up two basis points to 4.428%.
- Bitcoin edged toward $100,000, trading up by 4% to $98,161.