S&P, Nasdaq close higher as inflation data tightens rate cut view
By Chuck Mikolajczak and Noel Randewich
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by tech stocks linked to AI, while inflation data and comments from Federal Reserve officials helped shape expectations for the timing of the central bank's interest rate cuts.
Heavweight chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) advanced as the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P index and Nasdaq while smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) surged. Those and other technology companies have been the centerpiece of a Wall Street rally in recent months, fueled by optimism over growth prospects related to artificial intelligence.
Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), which sells AI-optimized servers made with Nvidia's high-end processors, rose ahead of its report after the bell.
Traders added to bets the Fed will cut rates in June, according to CME's FedWatch Tool, after a Commerce Department report showed U.S. prices picked up in January in line with expectations amid strong gains in the costs of services, while annual inflation was the smallest in three years.
«Without kind of a hawkish surprise here, which it wasn't, it was soft or at least in line, then there's no real reason for the market to expect the Fed to get more hawkish than they already outlined,» said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.
«It doesn't matter what you think they should do. It's what they say they're going to do and once again, the market has been wrestled back into line to where the Fed said they'd be.»
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 27.78 points, or 0.51%, to end at 5,095.78 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 144.19 points, or 0.90%, to 16,091.93. The Dow Jones Industrial
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