Nasdaq streak of records ends as Nvidia falls
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York City.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK - The Nasdaq fell on June 20, ending a streak of seven straight record closes following a drop in AI chip giant Nvidia and other artificial intelligence equities that have so far led the market in 2024.
“When a handful of stocks are pulling the market higher, what happens when those stocks go down?“ asked Mr Steve Sosnick, of Interactive Brokers. “It makes things very fragile when they stop.”
But “there is no reason to panic,” Mr Sosnick added.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 0.8 per cent at 17,721.59.
The broad-based S&P 500, which has also scored multiple records in recent weeks, declined 0.3 per cent to 5,473.17, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.8 per cent to 39,134.76.
The blue-chip index has underperformed the other two indices in recent weeks.
The surge in Nvidia and other chip companies, along with tech giants like Apple and Microsoft that are players in AI, has lifted stocks in 2024, offsetting disappointment at the Federal Reserve’s delaying of interest rate cuts.
Even with the 3.5 per cent drop on June 20, Nvidia is still up nearly 20 per cent in June alone.
“It’s extraordinarily unusual for a stock to have a run like it has,” Mr Sosnick said, on Nvidia.
Among other companies, Honeywell advanced 0.6 per cent after announcing it will buy defence technology company CAES Systems Holdings from private equity firm Advent International for about US$1.9 billion (S$2.5 billion).
Gilead Sciences soared 8.5 per cent after announcing successful trial results for an injectable HIV prevention treatment.
Darden Restaurants, parent company of Olive Garden and other chains, climbed 1.5 per cent after reporting higher quarterly sales as the company boosted its dividend. AFP
