Stocks in the US closed near record highs on Friday, with the S&P 500 slightly up and the Dow Jones gaining 62 points, while the Nasdaq lost 0.3% after reaching record levels earlier in the day. Nvidia finished 0.4% higher while hitting a fresh all-time high of $805.55 earlier in the day to surpass a $2 trillion valuation. Carvana surged by 31.8% after the used cars e-commerce platform reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss. Conversely, Booking Holdings lost 10.1% after the online travel company reported earnings that surpassed expectations but cautioned that tensions in the Middle East could impact its results in the current quarter. Warner Bros Discovery also experienced a decline of 9.9% following a disappointing fourth-quarter revenue report. For the week, the S&P 500 saw a gain of 1.6%, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq added 1.3% each.
Frankfurt's DAX 40 extended its gains to a new record high of 17,420 points on Friday, as investors welcomed dovish remarks by ECB officials and continued to monitor updated earnings from major German companies, as well as key economic data. ECB member Centeno suggested that the central bank should remain open to the possibility of a rate cut as early as March, while his colleague Schnabel expressed confidence that inflation expectations appeared to be under control. Chemicals giant BASF forecasted a rebound in core profit in 2024 and announced plans to slash another €1 billion in annual costs, while insurer Allianz reported a 6.2% decline in its real estate portfolio for 2023. In addition, Deutsche Telekom projected strong earnings growth in 2024, and Mercedes-Benz was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal weight" by brokerage Barclays. On the economic data front, German investor morale improved slightly in February but remained close to a three-and-a-half-year low reached in January.
The Nikkei 225 Index rallied 2.19% to close at 39,099, surpassing a previous all-time high reached during the 1989 bubble in Japan, with technology stocks leading the charge as Nvidia rallied in after-hours trading on an upbeat earnings report. Enthusiasm over artificial intelligence and related technologies, strong domestic corporate profits, a robust outlook for exporters amid a weakening yen and the Bank of Japan’s refusal to raise interest rates also drove the market rally in Japan. The broader Topix Index also jumped 1.27% to reach a fresh 34-year high of 2,661. Elsewhere, preliminary data showed that private sector activity in Japan slowed in February as services sector growth eased, while manufacturing activity contracted further. Gains in the technology sector were led by Tokyo Electron (6%), Advantest (7.5%), SoftBank Group (5.1%), Screen Holdings (10.2%) and Disco Corp (9.4%). Japanese markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.55% to close at 3,005 on Friday, climbing for the eighth straight session and gaining 4.85% this week, as a series of market-supportive measures and further monetary easing boosted investor confidence. The Shenzhen Component also added 0.28% for the day and 2.82% this week. Starting in early February, Beijing implemented various measures to stabilize the stock market, including steps to prevent aggressive short-sellers and combat market manipulations. The People’s Bank of China also slashed bank’s reserve requirements and announced a bigger-than-expected benchmark mortgage rate cut this month. Externally, excitement over artificial intelligence helped shares of Chinese technology stocks. Notable gains were seen from heavyweight firms such as COL Group (3%), Seres Group (10%), Chongqing Changan (6.2%), Kunlun Tech (3.9%) and iSOFT Stone (8.5%).
The S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.43% to close at 7,644 on Friday, rising for the second straight session and tracking gains on Wall Street overnight as technology stocks rallied on a strong demand outlook for artificial intelligence products. Those moves were spurred by Nvidia’s upbeat quarterly report which pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to new all-time closing highs. Domestically, data released earlier this week showed that private sector activity in Australia returned to growth in February for the first time in five months amid a strong expansion in the services sector. Technology stocks led the charge, with strong gains from Block Inc (16.5%), Xero (2.8%) and Brain chip Holdings (14%). Heavyweight financial and consumer-related stocks also advanced. Still, the benchmark index shed 0.19% this week.
