Nasdaq closes at first record since 2021, major averages end February with 4th monthly gain: Live updates

U.S. stocks finished Thursday's trading session in the green, with the Nasdaq Composite recording a record-high closing level.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.9% to end at an all-time closing high of 16,091.92.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose around 47 points, or 0.1%, at 38,996.39. The S&P 500 added 0.5% and also finished at a record close at 5,096.27.

— Hakyung Kim

Bitcoin miners slid in the final two trading days of February, pushing them into the red for the week, but were still set to post huge gains for the month.

Marathon Digital dropped 15% on Thursday, while Riot Platforms fell 10%. CleanSpark and Cipher Mining were lower by 9% and 8%, respectively, and Iris Energy retreated 3%. Nearly all mining stocks are down for the week, with the exception of CleanSpark, which is trading just above the flat line.

Those moves came as bitcoin appeared to take a pause from this week's rally. Still, the cryptocurrency is about to notch a 45% gain for February and is on pace for a 21% weekly gain.

Similarly, miners have soared this month. Marathon is on pace for a 47% February gain, Iris Energy is up 48% and Riot has advanced nearly 30%. CleanSpark is on track for a 106% monthly gain.

— Tanaya Macheel

Crude oil futures are headed for a second consecutive monthly gain as OPEC+ is expected to extend its production cuts and the latest inflation data was in line with expectations.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April lost 28 cents, or 0.36%, to settle $78.26 a barrel. The April Brent contract, which expires Thursday, fell 6 cents or 0.07% to settle at $83.62 a barrel.

U.S. and Brent gained 3% and 2.3% respectively for the month.

— Spencer Kimball

The S&P 500 sectors are all finishing February in the green.

Consumer discretionary was the top performing sector, rallying 8.1%. Ralph Lauren and Tapestry led the gains, jumping around 29% and 22% month to date, respectively.

The industrials and materials each added more than 6%.

Utilities, which underperformed the broader market, inched higher 0.6%.

— Hakyung Kim

Fresh personal income and spending data showed that real disposable personal income did not grow in January. This suggests signs of pressure on consumers, said LPL Financial chief economist for LPL Financial.

"The narrative has not changed that the next move by the Fed will be a cut in rates but the persistence of services inflation likely pushes out the timing of that first cut," Roach said. "Investors should pay close attention to the slowdown in real disposable income as a potential sign that consumers are nearing the end of their spending splurge."

— Hakyung Kim

Investors are skeptical whether the market rally, powered by mega cap tech stocks, can continue rally — but there are still opportunities, according to SoFi head of investment strategy Liz Young.

"There's [a] temptation to be a contrarian. ...The number of market participants who have turned more bullish this year continues to climb, but so does the chatter about whether we've gone too far," Young said.

However, "just because it looks overvalued broadly, doesn't mean there aren't good opportunities," she added.

Although she forecasts the rotation out of the Magnificent Seven names will continue, investors appear to have enough risk appetite to remain in the market, she added.

"And I believe that risk appetite can stay alive unless the labor market becomes a concern or a new shock emerges...For now, look for spots to rotate into that have flown under the radar this year," Young said.

— Hakyung Kim

Viking Therapeutics shares are down about 15% in trading Thursday. That's about 19% off this week's high, but the stock's price is still more than double where it began the week.

Wednesday evening the company announced plans to do a $550 million offering, hoping to cash in on the intense interest that followed the release of phase 2 clinical trial results on Tuesday. Viking is developing a GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist that is showing strong early results in helping patients with obesity.

The news stirred up plenty of excitement. Some investors are speculating Viking will be acquired. However, if the company goes it alone, it will need the money it is raising to continue to develop its pipeline and bring the drug to market.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Global market breadth and narrowing credit spreads could spell a path towards 5,600 for the S&P 500, according to Stephen Suttmeier, Bank of America's chief equity technical strategist.

"The global advanced decline line of 73 country indices — the S&P is just one of them — continues to go to new highs. So at the index level, market breadth globally is solid," he told CNBC's "Money Movers" on Thursday morning.

Suttmeier added that there could be some near-term downside — with May a historically weak month during an election year — ahead of a "nice summer rally."

— Lisa Kailai Han

During Thursday's trading session, 47 stocks within the S&P 500 index traded at new 52-week highs.

Here are some of the names that hit the milestone:

• Airbnb
• JPMorgan
• Wells Fargo
• Danaher
• General Dynamics
• Advanced Micro Devices
• Motorola Solutions
• Accenture
• Equifax
• American Express
• Costco
• Colgate-Palmolive
• Home Depot
• Best Buy

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

• Hormel Foods — Shares popped 13.3% after the food processing company beat fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. It posted earnings of 41 cents per share, excluding items, on revenue of $3 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had called for earnings of 34 cents per share on $2.91 billion in revenue. The company said it expects continued growth in its foodservice business and improvement in its international segment.
• Monster Beverage — Shares rose about 5% after the energy drink maker posted strong January sales and gross margin expansion, despite reporting in-line adjusted earnings and a slight revenue miss for the fourth quarter, per FactSet. Morgan Stanley and RBC raised their price targets for the stock on Thursday.
• Chemours — Shares fell more than 33% after the chemicals company placed its chief executive, chief financial officer and principal accounting officer on leave and said it was conducting an internal review to look into potential "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting. The company also delayed its fourth-quarter earnings report.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Many companies in the market have relatively attractive valuations compared to somewhat challenged fundamentals, according to Commonwealth Financial Network portfolio manager Chris Fasciano.

The gap between actual performance and what investors are willing to pay for different companies "creates a dilemma and a potential opportunity for portfolio managers," Fasciano said.

"Large, fast-growing companies have been some of the market’s best performers. But things can change quickly," Fasciano said about the market rally.

 "We believe there is a place in portfolios for large, fast-growing companies. But keeping an eye out for some of the underperforming areas of the market to balance the potential for reward while simultaneously helping manage risk is the path that makes the most sense to us," he added.

— Hakyung Kim

C3.ai's stock jumped more than 20% after posting a smaller-than-expected loss for the recent quarter and growth momentum.

The artificial intelligence software company posted a smaller-than-expected loss of 13 cents per share, excluding items, on $78.4 million in revenue. That topped the 28-cent loss and $76.1 million in revenue expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Total revenues jumped more than 17% on a year-over-year basis.

The company also appointed Hitesh Lath as its chief financial officer and got a price target boost from Bank of America.

C3.ai's CEO Tom Siebel said that demand for Enterprise AI products is "overwhelming" and that the opportunity's become "substantially larger" than forecasted during an earnings call with analysts.

"The Enterprise AI market is on fire," he said. "We have been predicting for some years that the market for Enterprise AI would be quite large."

— Samantha Subin

Bitcoin ETFs continue to see large inflows, nearly two months after their initial launch. JPMorgan estimated that the funds saw $675 million of net sales on Wednesday.

"This was the largest single day of net sales for the group, contributing to the ~$7.5bn accrued since launch. Gross sales (ex-GBTC) of $892mn came in just below below the all-time record (~$918mn), as Grayscale's GBTC outflows were relatively robust at $216mn on Wednesday," JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington said in a note to clients.

These inflows mirror the recent spike in trading volume of the funds, as the rise in price for bitcoin appears to be helping the new funds garner interest.

— Jesse Pound, Michael Bloom

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Thursday he still expects the central bank to begin lowering interest rates this summer despite elevated inflation readings.

"They've come in higher than people hoped. But if you look over the long arc, the line is still going down. That's an important thing to keep in mind," he said during a chat with a bankers group in Atlanta. He added that while it's too soon to declare victory on inflation, "I expect to see us start to reduce rates in the summertime."

Bostic is a voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. His remarks followed a Commerce Department reading Thursday that showed prices rose again in January but in line with market expectations.

—Jeff Cox

January inflation data complicates the outlook that the Federal Reserve will soon begin cutting interest rates, said David Alcaly, lead macroeconomic strategist at Lazard Asset Management.

But when the decreases begin may not matter as much as how big they are, he said.

"Hot January inflation data adds to uncertainty and pushes back rate cut expectations," he said following the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index data Thursday morning. "But odds remain that this is a speed bump and that, while there may be additional short-term swings in market narrative, it will ultimately matter more how deep any rate cutting cycle goes over time than when it begins." 

— Alex Harring

Leap day hasn't brought gains for the market when looking historically.

Since 1928, the S&P 500 has slipped 0.09% on an average Feb. 29, according to Carson Group data. And stocks have never notched a new all-time high on a leap day.

To be sure, there's been wide variance over the years. The worst leap day for stocks was in 2008, when the S&P 500 fell 2.71%. On the other hand, the best was in 1988, when the broad index climbed 2.05%.

— Alex Harring

Gold hit a one-month high on Thursday after U.S. inflation data came in line with expectations, with traders now awaiting clearer direction from Federal Reserve officials about interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was up 0.7% at $2,048.19 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures gained 0.7% at $2,056.70. Silver rose 1.1% to $22.70 per ounce, platinum firmed 1% at $887.10, and palladium ticked 1.1% higher to $938.50.

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.3% in January, while the core PCE price index increased 0.4% for the month and 2.8% from a year ago, sending the dollar lower, which makes gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies.

— Pia Singh, Reuters

Available homes under contract for sale unexpectedly tumbled in January amid swings in mortgage rates, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

Pending sales slumped 4.9% for the month, much worse than the 2% projected increase from the Dow Jones consensus. The total was off 8.8% from a year ago.

While economic conditions in terms of employment and growing wealth are ripe for the market, "consumers are showing extra sensitivity to changes in mortgage rates in the current cycle, and that's impacting home sales," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

—Jeff Cox

Semiconductor stocks outperformed in midday trading. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped 1.2%, while the S&P 500 was higher by just 0.4%.

Nvidia shares, the top holding in the SMH, were up by about 2%. Meanwhile, shares of Advanced Micro Devices jumped more than 3%, while Broadcom was higher by 0.8%.

— Sarah Min

U.S. stocks began Thursday's trading session in the green.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 47 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim

The January personal consumption expenditures price index came in line with the Dow Jones' consensus expectations, emphasizing the possibility that the Federal Reserve will make the first of its rate cuts starting in June.

"Today's print comes as no surprise following the CPI and PPI inflation reports earlier this month. Inflation continues to fall gradually, while economic growth is strong and the consumer is healthy," said Damian McIntyre, a portfolio manager at Federated Hermes. "Higher-for-longer rates will likely stay with us until summer."

— Lisa Kailai Han

The core personal consumption expenditures price index rose in line with expectations, climbing 0.4% month over month in January and 2.8% year over year.

The overall PCE, which includes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.3% month over month and 2.4% year over year. Those numbers also matched Dow Jones consensus estimates.

— Fred Imbert

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

• Snowflake — The cloud data company sank after posting disappointing product revenue guidance for the first quarter and announcing that CEO Frank Slootman is retiring.
• C3.ai — The artificial intelligence software stock popped more than 15% on robust earnings.
• Okta — The identity-management company surged more than 25% on the back of a stronger-than-expected quarter and outlook for the current period.

Read the full list of stocks on the move here.

— Samantha Subin

U.S. Treasury yields were up slightly as traders awaited the latest PCE report. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield was up 3 basis points at 4.303%. The 2-year note yield also climbed 3 basis points to 4.679%.

— Fred Imbert

All the major averages are headed for another winning month, with the Nasdaq up 5.1% and the S&P 500 on pace for a 4.6% gain.

Even more notable is the Dow's streak. If it closes tomorrow's session in positive territory for February, the 30-stock index would clinch its fourth straight winning month for the first time since a streak ended in May 2021. The index is currently up 2.1% month to date.

— Samantha Subin, Chris Hayes

These are some of the stocks on the move after the bell:

• Snowflake — Snowflake shares plunged 21% after the business software company announced the retirement of its CEO Frank Slootman. The news coincided with better-than-expected quarterly results, but weaker-than-expected product revenue guidance for the first quarter.
• Duolingo — The language learning platform skyrocketed 22% after surpassing quarterly estimates and posting strong monthly average user and bookings figures. Duolingo also provided strong revenue guidance for the first quarter and full year.
• Okta — Okta rallied 24% on better-than-expected quarterly results and first-quarter guidance.

Read the full list of stocks on the move here.

— Samantha Subin

Stock futures opened lower on Wednesday evening.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 70 points, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures edged down 0.2% each.

— Samantha Subin