Small Caps Rally, Alphabet Plummets, Bitcoin Flirts With $100,000: What’s Driving Markets Thursday? – Applied Mat (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wall Street witnessed a positive momentum on Thursday as investor risk appetite remained resilient despite escalating geopolitical tensions in Europe. The market brushed off concerns following a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian military facility overnight, which came in response to Ukrainian missile attacks earlier this week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address on Thursday, stated that after the use of long-range missiles from Ukraine, “the regional conflict gained elements of global one.”

Major U.S. indices traded higher by midday trading in New York, with standout performances among blue-chip stocks and small-cap equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 500 points, reaching 43,965, marking a 1.3% gain and its strongest session in over two weeks.

The Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.7% jump, setting up its best day since the post-election rally.

In contrast, the Nasdaq 100 lagged slightly, rising 0.5%. Nvidia Corp. NVDA, despite higher-than-expected earnings, failed to spark broader optimism in the tech sector. Meanwhile, shares of Alphabet Inc. GOOGLGOOG tumbled nearly 6% after the Department of Justice (DOJ) mandated the sale of Google Chrome aimed at curbing Google’s dominant position in search and digital advertising.

Geopolitical uncertainties drove strong gains in the commodities market. Natural gas Henry Hub prices soared 5%, bringing year-to-date gains to over 50% and marking the best monthly performance since July 2022. Crude oil prices also climbed 0.9%, supported by supply concerns.

Gold extended its winning streak, rising 0.7% for its fourth consecutive session of gains as investors sought safe-haven assets.

Bitcoin BTC/USD continued its rally, rising over 3% and hitting an intraday high of $98,367. The largest cryptocurrency now hovers tantalizingly close to the $100,000 milestone.

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.6% to $593.78.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 1.3% to $439.81.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.3% to $504.89.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM soared 1.7% to $234.91.
• The Financial Sector Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF outperformed, rising 1.6%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC lagged, down 0.5%.

• Nvidia Corp. fell 0.6% despite surpassing Street’s consensus estimates on both earnings per share and revenue during the third quarter. Analysts have raised price targets with Wedbush at $175, Baird at $195 and Barclays at $160.
• Despite the dismal reaction by Nvidia, semiconductor stocks, as tracked by the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX rose 1.9%. Major gainers on Thursday were Micron Technology Inc. MU, up 4.7%; Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL, up 3.9% and Applied Materials Inc. AMAT, up 3.7%.
• PDD Holdings Inc. – ADR PDD tumbled nearly 10% after missing earnings and revenue estimates.
• Other stocks reacting to earnings included Deere & Co DE, up 8.8%; Warner Music Group Corp. WMG, down 8%; Palo Alto Networks Inc. PANW, up 1.4% and Snowflake Inc. SNOW, up 32%.
• Companies slated to report their earnings after the close include Intuit Inc. INTU, Copart Inc. CPRT, Ross Stores Inc. ROSS and NetApp Inc. NTAP.

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