AI stocks propel S&P 500 surge

Note: Figures recorded at 7:40am AEDT. Updated figures and a video recording will be available at 9am AEDT.

The S&P 500 headed for a new record high on Monday, boosted by a group of outperforming technology stocks tied to the artificial intelligence boom.

The broad index added 0.2%, on pace for another record close. The Nasdaq Composite ticked marginally higher, also flirting with another high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, shedding 21 points, or 0.1%.

The market took a leg up in afternoon trading as Nvidia, the closely watched AI stock, rose more than 6%. Super Micro Computer soared more than 23% after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced it would join the S&P 500 later this month.

A handful of bitcoin-focused stocks including Microstrategy and Coinbase also advanced in lockstep with the digital currency. Elsewhere, Ford added almost 3% on the back of strong sales data.

But laggards held the market back. Apple fell nearly 3% after getting hit with a European Union antitrust fine of nearly $2 billion. The iPhone maker was accused of thwarting competition among music streaming rivals. It plans to appeal.

Tesla dropped almost 7% after announcing more price discounts and incentives late last week. Tesla has shipped 60,365 vehicles from its China factory in February, according to preliminary Chinese industry data, the lowest such figure since December 2022 and down almost 16 per cent month-on-month.

JetBlue rose more than 3%, while Spirit Airlines tumbled more than 10%. The airlines said Monday that they would end plans to combine, weeks after losing a federal antitrust lawsuit that jeopardised the $3.8-billion deal.

Stocks have been racing higher — fueled by enthusiasm around AI — over the past several weeks. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched an all-time high on Friday, breaking a 2021 record to become the last of the major stock indexes to reach a record close this year.

This week, traders will look for clues about the future direction of interest rates from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The central bank leader is expected to deliver monetary policy updates to the House of Representatives on Wednesday and to the Senate on Thursday.

The ADP Employment Survey and January job openings data will be released on Wednesday, providing further insight into the labour market. Manufacturing and nonfarm payrolls data for February are due Friday.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7.40am was buying 65.12 US cents.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE lost 0.55 per cent, Frankfurt fell 0.11 per cent, and Paris closed 0.28 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.50 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.04 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.41 per cent..

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.13 per cent lower at 7,735.79.

Ex-dividends
Coles Group (ASX:COL) is paying 36 cents fully franked
Excelsior Capital (ASX:ECL) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
Endeavour (ASX:EDV) is paying 14.3 cents fully franked
Embark Early Ed (ASX:EVO) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Heartland Group (ASX:HGH) is paying 3.764 cents unfranked
Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Kina Securities Ltd (ASX:KSL) is paying 5.1 cents unfranked
Lynch Group Holdings (ASX:LGL) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX:LOV) is paying 50 cents 30 per cent franked
Orora Limited (ASX:ORA) is paying 5 cents unfranked
Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) is paying 27.5 cents fully franked
Pengana Capital (ASX:PCG) is paying 1 cent fully franked
Qualitas Re Income (ASX:QRI) is paying 1.1285 cents unfranked
Qube Holdings Ltd (ASX:QUB) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Sequoia Fin Grp Ltd (ASX:SEQ) is paying 2 cents fully franked
SG Fleet Group Ltd (ASX:SGF) is paying 9.6 cents fully franked
Veem Ltd (ASX:VEE) is paying 0.77 cents unfranked
Worley Limited (ASX:WOR) is paying 25 cents unfranked
Wotso Property (ASX:WOT) is paying 1 cent unfranked