S&P 500 closes at a fresh record, Nasdaq jumps nearly 3% fueled by Nvidia: Live updates

Here's how the major indexes closed:

• The S&P 500 gained 2.11% to 5,087.03.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 456.87 points, or 1.18%, to 39,069.11.
• The Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.96% to 16,041.62.

— Pia Singh

Investors are feeling more positive on the short-term market outlook, according to the latest American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) Sentiment Survey.

Bullish sentiment rose to 44.3% for the week ending Feb. 21, more than the 42.2% in the previous reading, and above the historical average of 37.5% for the 16th straight week.

Respondents said their view on the economy and inflation was the main factor driving their outlook on stocks for the next six months, more than their view on monetary policy or corporate earnings.

Meanwhile, bearish sentiment fell by 0.6 percentage points to 26.2%, also below its historical average of 31.0% for the 16th straight week.

— Sarah Min

Social media company Reddit will soon become a publicly traded stock, according to a filing released Thursday. Shares of the company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker 'RDDT.'

Reddit disclosed financial information in the filing, revealing a net loss of $90.8 million in 2023 on $804 million of revenue.

— Jesse Pound

There's a bright outlook ahead for American Woodmark, according to Baird.

The investment firm upgraded the cabinet manufacturer to an outperform rating from neutral on Thursday. Analyst Timothy Wojs accompanied the move by lifting his target price to $120 from $105, implying that the stock could rally 31% from here.

Although American Woodmark has rallied an eye-whopping 66% in the last twelve months, Wojs is firm in his belief that there's still upside ahead.

"We believe share gains can continue, driven by new construction wallet share gains, dealer expansion, and service/capacity improvements. Combined with higher new construction mix, we see differentiated growth potential for AMWD," he wrote. Moreover, the stock is still trading at a "modest discount" to its historical average.

Wojs believes that the company is especially positioned well to "capture outsized growth towards affordable offerings." Simultaneously, the company also has potential for estimate upside, with Wojs believing that Wall Street analysts will adjust their earnings targets once better visibility emerges.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Crude oil futures rose Thursday amid signs of a tightening global market and as the geopolitical outlook in the Middle East remains uncertain.  

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April gained 70 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $78.61 a barrel. The Brent contract for April added 64 cents, or 0.77%, to settle at $83.67 a barrel.

The price premium of the first month futures contracts over the following months has increased in recent weeks, according to UBS strategist Giovanni Staunovo. 

A premium for immediate versus later delivery is typically a sign that the oil market is tightening, Staunovo wrote in a note to clients Thursday. 

The geopolitical outlook in the Middle East remains uncertain as the U.S. works toward a cease-fire in Gaza while tensions escalate on the Israel-Lebanon border and in the Red Sea. 

— Spencer Kimball

The S&P 500 is on track for its best day in over a year.

The S&P 500 was last higher by more than 2%, its best performance going back to Jan. 6, 2023 when the broader index gained 2.28%.

In fact, the S&P 500 hasn't seen a move of greater than 2% in 281 trading days, or its longest streak going back to March 2018 when it had gone for 345 trading sessions without such a move.

— Sarah Min, Nick Wells

Sunnova stock is down 25% as the company explores asset sales and implements cost-cutting measures after posting a deepening quarterly loss.

Sunnova posted a net loss of $234.8 million for the fourth quarter, compared to $62 million in the year-ago period. The company will put in place a "modest" at-the-market offering in the coming weeks, CFO Robert Lane told analysts during the company's earnings call.

The company does not see the need to raise capital through 2026 but is putting in place the ATM as "good housekeeping," Lane said. Sunnova does not intend to use ATM between now and Sunnova's next quarterly report, he said.

"The best time to put tools like an ATM in place is when they are in fact a luxury and not a necessity," Lane told analysts during the call.

CEO John Berger told analysts that macroeconomic headwinds tested the industry in 2023, but Sunnova is positioned to adapt and expand its market share as other players struggle.

Competitor Sunrun is also down about 16% after posting quarterly results that missed Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines.

— Spencer Kimball

Salesforce was the best performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, surging 3.5% during afternoon trading after strong Nvidia earnings fueled a broad market rally and lifted technology stocks.

The Dow was last up more than 430 points, getting a lift from the software company. Visa, IBM and Microsoft contributed to the rally, jumping at least 2% each.

Just five stocks — Coca-Cola, Intel, Nike, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Verizon Communications —hovered in negative territory in the 30-stock index. Verizon was the worst performer and slipped 1% after a nationwide cellphone outage impacted customers.

— Samantha Subin

Stocks tied to the price of bitcoin rose on Thursday, striving to recover losses from the previous session when bitcoin and crypto equities fell in anticipation of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting.

Coinbase and Microstrategy were higher by 5% each in late afternoon trading, while the biggest mining stocks, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms, advanced 8% and 4%, respectively.

Bitcoin was higher by more than 1%. Other cryptocurrencies saw even bigger increases, helped by a boost in the stock market following Nvidia's strong earnings, as well as an optimistic tone in the minutes of the Fed's January meeting.

"The market was let down by the January decision … then had to significantly reprice their expectation for rate cuts and 2024 – all of that was priced in heading into the Fed minutes," said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, told CNBC. "The balance of risk was tilted towards the reaction that we're seeing today, which is that there wasn't going to be anything worse that was going to come out for the market yesterday."

— Tanaya Macheel

Traders are increasingly optimistic on the U.S. stock market and economy, according to new data from Charles Schwab.

The firm's quarterly Trader Sentiment Survey found 53% of retail investors are bullish on the stock market in the first quarter of 2024. That's up from 32% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the highest percentage since the survey began in 2021.

Similarly, 49% of everyday traders said it's a good time to buy stocks, an improvement from 41% in the prior quarter.

These investors are also more positive about the state of the broader economy. Now, 48% believe the U.S. will avoid a recession, compared with just 23% in the final quarter of 2023.

— Alex Harring

The technology sector is up about 4% on Thursday, on pace to break a four-day losing streak with its best daily performance since May 25, 2023, when it jumped 4.45%.

The sector is now up 1.95% so far this week, which puts it on track to notch its sixth positive week in seven weeks. Micron Technology, Nvidia, Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems are the sector's biggest gainers week-to-date.

— Pia Singh

The Dow saw restricted gains compared to the other major indexes on Thursday, hurt by a handful of lagging members.

The blue-chip Dow has added around 0.9% in Thursday's session. Meanwhile, the broad S&P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite have climbed 1.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

Part of that underperformance stems from a group of Dow members bucking the broader market's ascent. Walgreens was the worst performer in the 30-stock index, sliding 1.4% in the session. Nike followed with a drop of 1.1%.

Those losses somewhat mitigated notable gains seen elsewhere. Salesforce led the index higher with a rally of around 3.5%. Visa and IBM were the next biggest advancers, with each popping more than 2%.

— Alex Harring

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

• Nvidia — The chipmaker giant rallied 15% after posting a fiscal fourth-quarter beat.
• Rivian — Shares tumbled 25% after the electric-vehicle manufacturer forecast production for 2024 that missed estimates and cut 10% of its workforce.
• Moderna — Shares popped 12% after the vaccine maker beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations, lifted by deferred revenue and cost cuts.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

European stocks rallied to a record close Thursday as investors cheered solid economic data.

The Stoxx 600 index ended the session 0.82% higher at 495.1, surpassing its previous record close of 494.35 on Jan. 5 2022, LSEG data showed.

Euro zone business activity showed some improvement in February, with manufacturing contracting but the services sector returning to growth, preliminary data showed.

— Yun Li

Attractive opportunities are in sight for the European chipmaking industry, according to HSBC.

The firm initiated coverage on the Netherlands-based ASML Holding with a buy rating, citing its "monopolistic position" in lithography tools.

"2024 expectations don't seem demanding. 2025 estimates and the share price may have upside potential as the industry enters an upcycle," analyst Adithya Metuku wrote in a Thursday note.

U.S. traded shares of ASML are up 20% in 2024 amid a 45.5% rally over the last 12 months.

— Hakyung Kim

Shares of Vietnamese electric vehicle company VinFast slipped more than 2% after the fourth quarter report showed widening losses. Shares had dropped 7% in premarket trading.

VinFast reported a gross loss of $174.9 million on $436.5 million of total revenue. The company said that was 13.1% worse than the fourth quarter of 2022 and 69.2% worse from the third quarter of 2023. The company's gross margin was -40.1%.

VinFast's market cap briefly rose to $85 billion shortly after it went public through a SPAC merger last year. Its market cap may fall below $12 billion on Thursday.

— Jesse Pound

A purchasing managers index focused on the manufacturing industry came in higher than economists expected on Thursday.

S&P Global's flash U.S. manufacturing PMI climbed to 51.5 in February — a 17-month high from 50.7 the prior month. Economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated the index would come in at 50.

On the other hand, the firm's flash PMI for services fell to 51.3 from 52.5 between January and February. That's below the forecast of 52.7 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

— Alex Harring

Nvidia surged more than 14.5% to an all-time high on the back of another strong quarterly print and robust quarterly guidance as artificial intelligence demand shows no signs of easing.

The news boosted other popular chip stocks and the broader market, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF last up 6.5% to trade at a fresh high.

Advanced Micro Devices surged 8.8% while Marvell Technology, Cadence Design Systems and Broadcom popped about 5% each. ASML, Applied Materials and Taiwan Semiconductor rallied more than 4% each.

— Samantha Subin

Existing home sales topped estimates in terms of total units but fell short in the rate of change, according to a National Association of Realtors report Thursday.

Sales totaled 4 million on the month, slightly ahead of the Dow Jones consensus outlook for 3.96 million. However, on a comparative level the increase was just 3.1%, compared to the expectation for 4.8%. Sales were off 1.7% from a year ago.

Total inventory edged higher to 1.01 million units, the equivalent of three months' supply. The median sales price jumped to a fresh record $379,100, up 5.1% from a year ago.

—Jeff Cox

Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson said Thursday he anticipates interest rate cuts this year but provided no timetable as he sees both upside and downside risks for the outlook.

"Our strong actions have moved our policy rate well into restrictive territory, and our restrictive stance of monetary policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation," he said in prepared remarks for a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. "If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back our policy restraint later this year."

However, he cited three factors that could change things: more resilient consumer spending and geopolitical risks that could sustain inflation, and possible weakness in the labor market that could weaken the economy.

"I remain cautiously optimistic about our progress on inflation, and I will be reviewing the totality of incoming data in assessing the economic outlook and the risks surrounding the outlook and in judging the appropriate future course of monetary policy," said Jefferson, a permanent voter on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, boosted by the hope that artificial intelligence will continue to drive economic growth after Nvidia's blockbuster earnings.

The S&P 500 opened 1.3% higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 225 points, or 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 2%.

The major averages are on pace for a fourth positive month in a row.

— Pia Singh

The number of individuals in the U.S. filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more-than-expected last week, suggesting strength in the labor market.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending on Feb. 17 totaled 201,000, which was a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level, according to latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor. Insured unemployment was 1,862,000 for the week ending Feb. 10. Claims are hovering at historically low levels, Reuters reported.

— Pia Singh

These are some of the stocks making notable moves before the bell:

• Nvidia — The closely watched chip giant's stock jumped 13% in premarket trading after earnings released Wednesday afternoon blew past expectations amid the artificial intelligence boom. 
• Moderna — Shares were up more than 5% after the vaccine maker posted better-than-forecasted revenue for the fourth quarter.
• Lucid — Shares pulled back more than 7% after the luxury electric vehicle company missed revenue estimates in the final quarter of 2023.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harring

Shares of Moderna were up more than 5% in the premarket after the vaccine maker posted a greater-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. The company's top line registered at $2.81 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG had forecast a print of $2.50 billion. Moderna also reported a surprise profit, boosted in part by deferred revenue.

— Fred Imbert

Japan's Nikkei 225 hit a record high Thursday, powered by banking, electronics and consumer stocks as robust earnings and investor-friendly measures fuel a blistering rally in Japanese equities this year.

The Nikkei 225 jumped nearly 2% to hit 39,029, surpassing the previous record high of 38,915.87 reached in 1989.

Both the Nikkei and the broader Topix have been standout outperformers in Asia Pacific, up more than 10% so far this year after surging more than 25% in 2023 — their respective best annual gains in at least a decade.

—Clement Tan

Japan's Nikkei 225 led gains in Asia, briefly surpassing its1989 all-time high, powered by a mix of banking, electronics and consumer stocks.

The index climbed 1.92% on Thursday, with Aozora Bank being the biggest gainer, up 8.21%.

Electronics company Furukawa Electric and petrochemical firm Resonac Holdings rose 4.7% and 3.97% respectively.

Other index heavyweights were also in the green. Tokyo Electron advanced 5.74%, while Softbank gained 5.33%. Fast Retailing rose 2.41%.

—Lee Ying Shan

Shares of Lucid Group slid nearly 7% in extended trading after the electric vehicle company posted a revenue miss as losses widened. Lucid reported revenue of $157 million in the latest quarter, lower than an LSEG, formerly Refinitiv, estimate of $180 million.

Rivian Automotive's stock plunged 13% after the company reported steep losses and said it would cut 10% of its salaried workforce. Rivian expects EV production this year to be far lower than Wall Street expected, hurt by downtime for factory upgrades and slowing demand for EVs due to high interest rates.

— Yun Li

Nvidia's closely watched Data Center business logged $18.4 billion in fourth-quarter sales, up 409% from the same period in the previous year.

The segment includes the company's H100 graphics cards that are widely used to power generative artificial intelligence apps such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Nvidia's data center unit has blossomed, particularly over the past three quarters. It's the current market leader for supplying computer chips used for AI research and products.

— Yun Li, Jonathan Vanian