Nasdaq, S&P 500 Surge to Record Highs Amid Tech Gains and Fed's Rate Cut Hints

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached record highs, fueled by gains in major tech stocks like Nvidia. Anticipation of inflation data and quarterly earnings reports, along with Federal Reserve Chair Powell's comments on interest rates, contributed to the rally. All S&P 500 sectors rose, led by information technology.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rallied to record high closes on Wednesday, fueled by gains in Nvidia and other Wall Street heavyweights ahead of crucial inflation data and quarterly earnings reports due this week. This marks the Nasdaq's seventh straight record-high close and the S&P 500's sixth straight.

The S&P 500 crossed 5,600 for the first time after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a potential interest-rate cut in September during his Congressional testimony. Powell noted he was not yet convinced that inflation was moving sustainably down to 2%, but expressed 'some confidence' in reaching that target.

The Philadelphia semiconductor index surged 2.4% to a record high after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co reported strong quarterly revenue. Nvidia climbed 2.7%, Micron Technology jumped 4%, and Advanced Micro Devices added 3.9%, embodying strong performances across the tech sector.

Apple also hit a record high, lifting its market value to $3.6 trillion. Despite worries from some investors about potential selloffs if major tech companies' earnings disappoint, the S&P 500 index rose 1.02% to 5,633.91 points, and the Nasdaq gained 1.18% to 18,647.45 points.

All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes saw gains, with information technology leading, up 1.63%. The overall trading volume was relatively light, with 10 billion shares traded versus an average of 11.5 billion over the last 20 sessions. U.S. inflation data to be released this week includes the Consumer Price Index on Thursday and the Producer Price Index on Friday.