Major US stock indexes rose at the close and it appears the Dow Jones not only closed at a record high, but also closed above 40,000 for the first time. The Dow Jones is the least favorite of the major indices, but it is the one that gets America most excited. Dow 40K headlines mean more on “Main Street” than “S&P 5K” or “Nasdaq17K.”
The Nasdaq and Standard & Poor's index closed higher for the fourth week. Each of these indexes also traded to new closing highs this week with the S&P high now closing at 5,303.14. The new Nasdaq high close comes at 16,742.39.
A snapshot of the closing levels is shown:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34% to 40,003.60
- The Standard & Poor's index rose 6.17 points, or 0.12%, to 5,303.26 points.
- The Nasdaq index fell 12.35 points, or 0.07%, to 16,685.97 points.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index fell -0.53 points, or -0.03%, to 2,095.71.
During the trading week, all major indexes closed higher by more than 1%.
- The Dow Jones index rose 1.24%.
- The Standard & Poor's index rose 1.54%.
- The Nasdaq rose 2.11%.
- The Russell 2000 rose 1,744%.
For 2024, the Nasdaq and the broader S&P are vying for the strongest major indices (they're about the same):
- Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 6.14%
- S&P index rose 11.18%
- Nasdaq rises 11.16%
- The Russell 2000 rose 3.3%.
Next week, the focus of stock markets (and other markets) will be on Nvidia's earnings, which will be released after Wednesday's close. Nvidia shares fell -$18.80, or -1.99%, to $924.79 in trading today, but are up more than 86.74% this year and just 1.9% from their all-time closing high.
Although the price has risen significantly this year
- EPS is expected to reach $5.58 which is up from $1.09 during the same quarter in 2023. This represents a gain of 411% year over year.
- Nvidia's revenue is expected to be $24.556 billion versus $7.19 billion in the same quarter of 2023. This represents a 241% increase.
The stock price a year ago was $305. With the current price at $933, that represents a 205% upside. So, all things being equal, gains in the stock – even at over 200% – are supported by gains in EPS and revenue.
AMD shares are up nearly 8.25% this week, and are closing up 1.13% in today's trading. The not so good news is that the price is down -27.65% from its February high. Over the course of the year, AMD shares are only up 11.57% in 2024 (but are doing better than Intel, whose shares are down -36.66% in 2024).
Micron shares are up 46.81% in 2024. Broadcom shares are up 25.0% this year.