S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 Hit Record Highs As Dollar, Treasury Yields Weaken, Chipmakers Shine, NYCB Sinks: What's Driving Markets Friday?

March kicked off on a high note on Wall Street Friday, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices soaring to unprecedented heights, fueled by the unstoppable surge of tech stocks.

Despite the sharper-than-expected contraction revealed by the ISM Manufacturing PMI in February – with the overall index plummeting from 49.5 to 47.8, missing the anticipated 49.1 – investors remained upbeat. The data triggered downward pressure on the dollar and Treasury yields, maintaining firm expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Fed speakers – including Goolsbee, Waller and Bostic – offered a mixed bag of remarks, though collectively acknowledging the ongoing progress toward disinflation. Additionally, a Fed report highlighted that inflation expectations broadly align with the 2% target.

In the tech sector, the semiconductor industry continued its remarkable performance, buoyed by escalating demand for chips associated with artificial intelligence. The industry benchmark, as monitored by the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX, surged 3.7% following a 2.7% leap on Thursday, marking its highest level since inception.

Among the Magnificent Seven, Apple Inc. AAPL underperformed as Goldman Sachs decided to remove the stock from its conviction list, while Meta Platforms Inc. META rose to fresh record highs above $500.

New York Community Bancorp NYCB faces renewed scrutiny after disclosing a “material weakness” in its internal controls related to loan review processes, causing shares to plummet by over 20%.

Gold, as tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, is up 2% to $2,085/oz, on track for the strongest session since mid-December and set to close at all-time highs.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.7% higher to $511.73, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.2% to $390.86 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rose 1.2% to $444.43, according to Benzinga Pro data.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK, was the outperformer, up by 1.4%, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU lagged behind, down 1.2%.

Chart of The Day: S&P 500, Nasdaq Jointly Reach All-Time Highs

Friday’s Stock Movers

• NetApp Inc. NTAP rose 22% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
• Dominion Energy Inc. D fell 7%, on track for the largest daily loss since July 2020, after the company forecasted 2024 adjusted earnings below analysts’ estimates.
• Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. SPR rallied 13% after reports that Boeing Company BA is in discussions to buy the supplier.
• Friday’s top-performing chipmakers were Marvell Technologies Inc. MRVL, Broadcom Inc. AVGO and Micron Technologies Inc. MU, with gains between 5% and 7%.
• Stocks reacting to earnings were Zscaler Inc. ZS, down over 9%, The Cooper Companies Inc. COO, up 9%, MasTec Inc. MTZ, up 8.5%, NCR Voyix Corp. VYX, down 18%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc. DNA, down 15%, Elastic N.V. ESTC, down 12%.

Read now: Gold, Bitcoin Rally: Is US Debt Surge A Key Driver?

Image created using artificial intelligence via MidJourney.