U.S. stocks rallied near record territory on Thursday as blowout earnings from major Wall Street firms and renewed confidence in the AI trade lifted risk appetite.
The Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.2%, on track to fully erase Wednesday’s losses, while the S&P 500 climbed nearly 1%.
Semiconductor stocks led the advance after blockbuster quarterly results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM) reignited enthusiasm across the AI supply chain.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) and Dutch chipmaker ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) surged about 6% each, buoyed by TSMC’s stronger-than-expected capital spending outlook.
The rally extended across the chip equipment space, with KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) soaring 9% and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) gaining roughly 8%.
In financials, investor sentiment was reassured after strong earnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which rose 4% and 5%, respectively, following mixed results from the sector earlier this week.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) also stood out, climbing more than 5% after the world’s largest asset manager reported record quarterly inflows of $341.7 billion and assets under management reaching $14 trillion.
Strength in large financial institutions spilled over into regional banks, with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) surging and helping lift small-cap stocks. The Russell 2000 notched record highs for the tenth straight session, pushing year-to-date gains above 7%.
In economic news, initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 198,000 in the week ending Jan. 10, defying forecasts for a rise to 215,000 and marking the second-lowest level in two years. The outcome bolstered confidence around the resilience of the U.S. labor market at the start of the year.
Equities were further supported by a sharp pullback in commodity prices, particularly energy. West Texas Intermediate crude slid more than 5% to $58 a barrel, wiping out weekly gains as fears of imminent U.S. intervention in Iran faded.
Safe-haven assets retreated as well, with gold down 0.4% and silver falling 1.9%. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) edged 0.4% lower to around $96,000.
Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | % |
| Nasdaq 100 | 25,778.18 | 1.2% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,683.70 | 1.2% |
| Dow Jones | 49,564.88 | 0.8% |
| S&P 500 | 6,981.05 | 0.8% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.9% to $638.98.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) moved 0.7% higher to $495.11.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 1.1% to $626.00.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rallied 1.2% to $266.56.
- The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 1.6%; the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) lagged, down 0.8%.
Russell 1000’s Top 5 Gainers
| Stock Name | % Change |
|---|---|
| Figure Technology Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:FIG) | +13.13% |
| Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) | +11.98% |
| Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) | +11.09% |
| Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) | +10.94% |
| Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) | +9.94% |
Russell 1000’s Top 5 Losers
| Stock Name | % Change |
|---|---|
| Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) | -6.08% |
| Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) | -4.28% |
| Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) | -4.25% |
| Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) | -4.20% |
| Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) | -3.90% |
Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
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