The Dow closed positive at 130.30 points, and the S&P 500 hit a new high, accepting the Fed's budget cut expectations. : Quest Information

The New York Stock Exchange's Dow Jones closed positive on Thursday (March 7), while the S&P 500 closed at a record high and the Nasdaq closed up 1.5%, with the biggest gains for technology and growth stocks. This comes amid increasing investor confidence in the possibility of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,791.35 points, an increase of 130.30 points, or +0.34%.
• The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at 5,157.36 points, up 52.60 points, or +1.03%.
• The Nasdaq index closed at 16,273.38 points, up 241.83 points, or +1.51%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.36% to close at a record high. This is because investors flocked to buy shares in chip manufacturing companies. It is expected to benefit from demand related to artificial intelligence technology.

Mr. Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, revealed before a US Senate committee that the Federal Reserve is close to being convinced of this and the inflation rate is falling towards the target level of 2%, which makes lowering interest rates possible.

Mr. Powell's comments raised investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve is scheduled to cut interest rates for the first time in June this year.

In addition, the release of economic data supports the trend towards lowering interest rates. The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of first-time applicants for unemployment benefits reached 217,000 last week. Unchanged from the previous week. In line with analysts' expectations.

Previous disclosures indicate that the US labor market is slowing. But it's still strong. Investors will wait to see US non-farm payrolls data for February on Friday. To indicate details about labor market conditions

Nine of the 11 stocks listed on the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed higher, with communications and information technology services among the biggest gainers. They closed higher by 1.84% and 1.89%, respectively.

Major growth stocks helped support the market, such as Meta stock rising 3.2% and Invidia stock rising 4.5%.

Shares of Kroger Co., a major consumer goods retailer, rose 9.8% after annual sales and earnings forecasts beat market expectations.

By InfoQuest News Agency (March 08, 2024)

Tags: Dow Jones, Dow Jones, stock market, New York Stock Exchange