By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq ended more than 1% higher and S&P 500 also rose on Monday, with shares of Nvidia jumping as investors were optimistic ahead of its earnings this week and other technology-related stocks gained.
The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose to a 15-year high as investors looked warily toward a meeting of central bankers who convene on Thursday at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on Friday.
The technology sector gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, while an index of semiconductors was also up sharply.
Nvidia led gains among semiconductor stocks as HSBC raised its price target on the stock to $780, the second highest on Wall Street.
Nvidia, one of the biggest winners in this year’s artificial intelligence tech stock rally, is expected to forecast quarterly revenue above analysts’ estimates when it reports late on Wednesday. Nvidia’s stock is up more than 200% for the year so far, while the Nasdaq is up nearly 30%.
“Nvidia is considered the brand for AI,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Their targets have been lifted dramatically, so the question is, can they deliver… A catalyst coming in with Nvidia would be extremely helpful.”
At the same time, she said, investors are anxious to hear Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole. Concerns the Fed will keep interest rates higher for longer have pushed up U.S. Treasury yields, and fanned worries about the impact of higher rates on businesses and consumers.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 30.42 points, or 0.70%, to end at 4,400.13 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 206.65 points, or 1.55%, to 13,497.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.40 points, or 0.11%, to 34,463.26.
Among decliners in the Dow, Johnson & Johnson shares fell after the healthcare conglomerate said it was expecting to retain a stake of about 9.5% in its newly separated consumer health unit, Kenvue.
Goldman Sachs also dipped after the bank said it was weighing the sale of a part of its wealth business.
Also in the tech space, Palo Alto Networks surged after the cybersecurity firm alleviated worries about its late Friday release of results with a strong quarter and a forecast for annual billings above expectations.
And VMware jumped after UK’s competition regulator cleared Broadcom’s purchase of the cloud computing firm. Broadcom’s stock was also higher.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Vinay Dwivedi and David Gregorio)
