US stocks hit record highs on big tech gains
What’s happening:-
US stocks climbed to record closing highs on Monday, driven by gains in tech stocks.
What happened:-
Nvidia’s shares surged after the company announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.Shares of Apple and Tesla also rose on Monday, providing further boost to the major indices during the session.
Nvidia’s shares
Why it matters:-
Apple’s stock gained 4.3% on Monday after Wall Street analysts indicated strong preorders for the new iPhone 17. Analysts at Wedbush raised their price target for Apple, while saying that iPhone 17 preorders could be up as much as 10% versus last year. The latest version of the iPhone will become available in stores on Friday.
Tesla’s shares also rose almost 2% to the highest closing this year, with investors awaiting announcements related to new products, especially the latest version of its FSD (full self-driving).
Shares of Nvidia surged around 4% after the company said it will supply OpenAI with datacentre chips. Oracle’s shares climbed more than 6% following changes in leadership and optimism around the company’s AI outlook.
Apple’s stock
Last week, the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate cut this year, bring rates lower by 25 bps, while signalling further cuts ahead. Lower interest rates support growth stocks.
Data released on Monday showed the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for the US rising to -0.12 in August, from -0.28 in the previous month. The index rose to the highest level in five months, signalling an improvement in economic growth.
Gold and Arrow Shine
Gold and the index closed at new record highs this week, making it the first time the two asset classes have reached all-time highs on the same day six times in 2025 and ten times in 2024. However, from 1970 to 2023, this has only happened twice, both in 1972.
Markets remained concerned around President Donald Trump’s announcement of new visa fees for foreign workers, which attracted widespread criticism from tech executives.The S&P 500 has gained around 13.8% year-to-date and surged 3.6% so far in September, which has historically been a weak month for stocks.The Dow Jones index gained 66.27 points, or 0.14%, to close at 46,381.54 on Monday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.44% to 6,693.75 and the Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.55% to settle at 24,761.07.
What to watch:-
Data on current account (1630 UAE Time), S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1745 UAE Time) and S&P Global services PMI (1745 UAE Time), due to be released today, will remain in focus. The US current account deficit, which rose by $138.2 billion to $450.2 billion in the first quarter, is expected to shrink to $270 billion in the second quarter. The S&P Global manufacturing PMI, which rose to 53.0 in August from 49.8 in July, is expected to decline to 52 in September, while the services PMI is projected to fall to 53.9 in September from 54.5 in the previous month.