Wall Street closed on a positive note on Wednesday, buoyed by strong performances from ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft, as well as chipmaker Nvidia. The U.S. stock market also saw Nvidia surpass Alphabet as the third most valuable company ahead of its quarterly results. Uber experienced a surge in stock price after announcing a $7 billion share buyback plan, while Lyft’s shares soared following better-than-expected profits and the announcement that it expects to generate positive free cash flow in 2024.
Helping to lift the S&P 500 were gains from Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook) and electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. The S&P 500 index gained 47.34 points or 0.95%, closing at 5,000.13 points, while the Nasdaq Composite increased by 202.43 points or 1.30%, ending at 15,859.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 145.33 points or 0.38%, reaching 38,418.61.
On Tuesday, Wall Street indexes experienced a slump to their lowest levels in over a week, with the Dow having its worst day in 11 months. This was prompted by data showing that core consumer prices in January remained nearly double the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, leading investors to reassess their expectations for interest rate cuts.
However, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee provided some relief by stating that the path towards the central bank’s inflation target of 2% would remain on track even if there are slightly higher-than-expected price increases in the coming months.
Expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have been a driving force behind the recent rally on Wall Street, propelling the S&P 500 to record highs. Interest rate futures indicate that traders largely anticipate the Fed to begin cutting rates by its June policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
In other news, Robinhood Markets experienced a rally following an unexpected fourth-quarter profit. Additionally, crypto stocks including Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and Riot surged as the market value of Bitcoin crossed $1 trillion for the first time since November 2021.
Overall, Wall Street ended the day on a positive note, with investors closely monitoring the performance of key companies and keeping a watchful eye on potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
