S&P 500 falls after giving up gains as Oracle slump weighs on tech
Investing.com-- The S&P 500 hit a record Thursday, as investors weighed a surprise uptick in economic growth and results from artificial intelligence major Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
At 4:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 71 points, or 0.2% higher, the S&P 500 index added 0.3% and hit a record close of 6,502.45 and NASDAQ Composite added 0.5%.
The major indices on pace to record monthly gains, as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite were each up more than 2% before Thursday’s action, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average gained up more than 3% in the period.
Nvidia cuts some losses after data center miss weighs on stock
Nvidia reported a beat to analysts’ quarterly estimates late Wednesday and the chip designer and AI bellwether forecasted third-quarter revenue that was higher than Wall Street estimates.
However, a miss on data centre revenue and questions over China forecasts caused investors to question the company’s elevated valuation, resulting in its shares sliding lower.
Notably, Nvidia said there were no sales of H20 chips to China during the quarter, nor did the company assume any shipments in its guidance. .
Among other tech movers, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) rose following quarterly results, while data cloud company Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) soared after it hiked its annual product revenue guidance.
Jack Daniel’s maker Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) beat estimates for first-quarter sales, on the back of steady demand for its ready-to-drink beverages and spirits.
Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) missed estimates for second-quarter profit, hurt by higher costs at a time when the retailer grapples with uncertain discretionary consumer spending.
Dollar General (NYSE:DG) raised its annual sales and profit forecasts, banking on steady demand from cost-conscious consumers across income brackets in the United States amid tariff and inflation concerns.
U.S. GDP rose by 3.3% in Q2
U.S. stocks had rallied on a mostly positive second-quarter earnings season and increasing bets on a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
But this rally was seen cooling through late-August, amid emerging doubts over the Fed’s plans, as well as a sharp drop in technology shares.
That said, expectations of a Fed interest rate cut in September rose after Fed Governor John Williams said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that "every meeting is, from my perspective, live."
"Risks are more in balance," he said. "We are going to just have to see how the data play out."
Data released earlier Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded by more than initially reported in the second quarter, with gross domestic product growing by 3.3% during the April to June period, according to the second estimate from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The initial estimate had suggested that the U.S. economy grew by 3.0% in the first quarter, after contracting by 0.5% in the first quarter.
The focus will also be on the PCE price index on Friday - the Fed’s preferred inflation measure - and the monthly payrolls report a week later.
Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article