The Dow Jones it increased by 0.22%, to 41,118.3 points; the S&P 5000.52%, to 5,621.26 points, and the Nasdaq Composite1.14%, at 17,756.76 points.
Before the start of the day across the Atlantic, the government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) saw a 0.8% increase in the second quarter. This is double the 0.4% growth in the previous quarter.
In annualized figures, US GDP grew by 3% between April and June, compared to 1.4% in the previous three months. This upward update is due to a revision in consumer spending, which was partially offset by a deterioration in non-residential fixed investment, exports and private inventories.
Investors also had a new benchmark for the U.S. labor market. US Unemployment Benefits Claims Last week, they reached a total of 231,000 applications, which is a decrease of 2,000 people compared to the previous figure.
During the week ending August 17, beneficiaries of this benefit totaled 1.868 million, an increase in the number of beneficiaries of 13,000 people, compared to 1.855 million the previous week. During the same comparable period of 2023, the number of citizens receiving benefits reached 1.819 million.
“The economy is not going to fall into a recession anytime soon.” and that’s good for the stock market, with a rate cut most likely coming in September,” Dakota Wealth analysts said, according to Reuters.
Nvidia
Economic data coincided with Nvidia’s results. Chipmaker’s financial statements failed to convince investorss and its shares fell nearly 7% before the start of the session on Wall Street despite gaining another 168% and beating their own forecasts. However, in the first minutes of trading, the decline was reduced to 2.83%.
In its fiscal second quarter, which ended in June, the tech giant achieved a net profit of $16.599 million, This figure represents a 168.2% increase in profits compared to the same quarter last year.
In addition, revenues were a record. They reached $30,040 million, 122.4% more than a year earlier, exceeding the company’s own forecasts. At the same time, costs increased by 84.6%, reaching $7,466 million.
“Nvidia, in a way, has become a victim of its own success: its share price has climbed more than 180% this year and after beating earnings in 14 of the last 15 quarters,” IG analysts estimate.
“It remains to be seen whether today’s results mark the end of investors’ strong affinity for the chipmaker. However, if nothing else, the reaction following the results suggests that this is an excellent time to Nvidia considers diversifying into other chipmakers” add the same experts.
The rest of the big tech giants rose in early trading on Thursday. In fact, they led the Dow Jones’s rise. In this way, Microsoft (+2.47%), Apple (+1.02%) and Intel (+1.5%) led the increases, while the most significant decreases were those of Verizon (-0.57%), UnitedHealth (-0.61%) and Coca-Cola (-0.51%).
