US Indices Surge on Tech Rally
Semiconductor stocks helped lead the move back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.5% to a new record closing high. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) turned in one of the sector's best performance, surging by 8.8%. The rally by AMD came after the company announced a 6-gigawatt agreement to power Meta's (META) next generation of AI infrastructure across multiple generations of AMD Instinct GPUs.
Networking stocks were significantly strong, as reflected by the 1.5% gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Oil service, gold, airline and software stocks also turned in strong performances, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors. In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Conference Board showed an improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of February.
The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index rose to 91.2 in February from a revised 89.0 in January, exceeding economists? expectations for a reading of 88.0. Chief Economist Dana M. Peterson said confidence improved as consumers? pessimism about the future eased slightly, noting that four of the index?s five components strengthened. However, she added that the index remains well below November 2024?s four-year peak of 112.8.
Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index both advanced by 0.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.8%. The major European markets also ended the day mixed while the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3%, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both closed marginally lower.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 4.03%.
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