[New York Stock Market] Nvidia Hits Another Record High, S&P 500 Surpasses 5000 for the First Time

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Fueled by the strong performance of artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, the U.S. Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index surpassed the 5000 mark for the first time ever based on closing prices.

On the 9th (Eastern Time), the S&P 500 index closed at 5026.61, up 28.70 points (0.57%) from the previous session, at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The Nasdaq index rose 196.95 points (1.25%) to 15,990.66, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54.64 points (0.14%) to 38,671.69.

On that day, the S&P 500 index broke through 5000 as soon as trading began. The surge in investment sentiment toward AI is interpreted as the driving force behind the index's rise.

NVIDIA, the leading AI stock, rose more than 3% to surpass $720.

Microsoft's market capitalization exceeded $3 trillion, surpassing Apple's market cap. It rose more than 1% that day, increasing its market cap to $3.12 trillion.

The stock price of semiconductor design company Arm Holdings soared about 48% in one day following strong earnings, continuing the upward trend of AI-related companies' stock prices.

Reports that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who is pushing for the development of proprietary AI chips, is seeking funding between $5 trillion and $7 trillion (approximately 6600 trillion to 9300 trillion KRW) also supported the strong market performance that day.

Thanks to this, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index also rose 1.25% that day.

However, the Dow index, which had hit an all-time high the previous day, fell slightly due to selling pressure. PepsiCo, which reported earnings that day, dropped more than 3% after sales fell short of expectations.

Pinterest's quarterly net profit exceeded expectations, but its stock price fell about 10% due to disappointment over revenue forecasts.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor revised the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December last year to a 0.2% increase from the previous month, down from the initially reported 0.3% rise. The November figure was also revised from a 0.1% increase to 0.2%.

The U.S. CPI showed a trend of slowing inflation, rising 0.5% in August last year, followed by 0.4% in September, 0.1% in October, 0.2% in November, and 0.2% in December on a month-over-month basis.

The market expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates by mid-year due to the easing inflation.

Market experts view the trend of declining inflation as positive for the stock market, but they caution that it remains to be seen whether growth will slow enough for the Fed to actually lower interest rates, given that this expectation is already priced into the market.