The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a record high overnight, as Wall Street attempted to recover from a steep sell-off earlier this month.
The 30-stock index gained 243.63 points, or 0.59 per cent, closing at a new record of 41,335.05. Gains in Goldman Sachs, Intel, and Visa helped lift the blue-chip average to this new high. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ended the session just below the flatline at 5,591.96, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.23 per cent to close at 17,516.43.
Turning to US sectors, Energy was the biggest winner overnight, followed by Financials and then Industrials. Technology was the worst performer.
Artificial intelligence leader Nvidia, which dropped 6.4 per cent, weighed down both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Despite exceeding expectations on the top and bottom lines in its fiscal second quarter and issuing a positive sales outlook for the current quarter, Nvidia’s results fell short of the high bar set by previous quarters.
Several tech companies saw significant stock movements this week. Buy now, pay later provider, Affirm, surged 36 per cent after strong earnings. Dell's stock rose 4 per cent due to robust server sales, while Marvell Technology gained nearly 9 per cent on positive earnings guidance. Lululemon Athletica's shares increased slightly despite missing revenue targets. However, Elastic NV's stock plummeted 23 per cent after a disappointing revenue outlook. MongoDB, on the other hand, saw a 12 per cent increase due to strong earnings and raised guidance. Ulta Beauty's shares declined by 7 per cent after falling short of market expectations.
Economic data released Thursday provided some support to the stock market. Weekly jobless claims decreased from the previous week, further easing recession concerns. Additionally, second-quarter gross domestic product was revised upward to 3 per cent growth from the initial 2.8 per cent estimate.
Federal Reserve officials will get the latest look at their favourite inflation indicator Friday, a data snapshot that could influence the September rate decision even as policymakers appear to have their focus elsewhere these days.
In other news, US miners and battery recyclers are rushing to secure billions in government loans before January, fearing that Trump, if reelected, will block funding and end the electric vehicle mandate. The Department of Energy has awarded nearly $25B in conditional loans to 21 companies during Biden's tenure.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.6 per cent rise.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.25am was buying 67.98 US cents.
Commodities
Gold added 0.89 per cent. Silver gained 1.22 per cent. Copper rose 0.11 per cent. Oil jumped 1.87 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.43 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.69 per cent, and Paris closed 0.84 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei shed 0.02 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.53 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.50 per cent lower.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.33 per cent lower at 8045.13
Ex-dividends
Ampol Limited (ASX:ALD) is paying 60 cents fully franked
Big Riv Indust Ltd (ASX:BRI) is paying 2 cents fully franked
Carlton Investments (ASX:CIN) is paying 63 cents fully franked
Embark Early Ed (ASX:EVO) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
FSA Group Limited (ASX:FSA) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
HiTech Group Aust. (ASX:HIT) is paying 5 cents fully franked
Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) is paying 3.3 cents fully franked
Infomedia Ltd (ASX:IFM) is paying 2 cents fully franked
Johns Lyng Group (ASX:JLG) is paying 4.7 cents fully franked
Metrics Income (ASX:MOT) is paying 1.23 cents unfranked
Metrics Master (ASX:MXT) is paying 1.35 cents unfranked
Orora Limited (ASX:ORA) is paying 5 cents unfranked
Pengana Int Equ Ltd (ASX:PIA) is paying 1.35 cents fully franked
Silk Logistics (ASX:SLH) is paying 1.42 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
Abacus Group (ASX:ABG)
Abacus Storage King (ASX:ASK)
Aspen Group Ltd (ASX:APZ)
Carindale Property Trust (ASX:CDP)
Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC)
Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX:CQR)
Elanor Commercial Property Fund (ASX:ECF)
Euroz Hartleys Group Ltd (ASX:EZL)
GDI Property Group (ASX:GDI)
GPT Group (ASX:GPT)
Growthpoint Properties Australia (ASX:GOZ)
Liberty Financial Group Ltd (ASX:LFG)
Region Group (ASX:RGN)
Scentre Group (ASX:SCG)
Stockland Corp Ltd (ASX:SGP)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap, Marketech.
