Major indices on the New York Stock Exchange climbed across the board on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 notched their eighth straight day of gains, while the Nasdaq bounced back after a single day of decline.
The market’s upward momentum was fueled by Microsoft (MS) and Meta Platforms, which reported better-than-expected earnings after the previous day’s close and reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing AI infrastructure investments.
Meanwhile, Tesla, which had been subject to rumors about a potential CEO change for Elon Musk, initially surged 3.1% before reversing course and ultimately closing down 0.6%.
Eight-day Winning Streak
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 83.60 points (0.21%) at 40,752.96, while the S&P 500 gained 35.08 points (0.63%) to close at 5,604.14.
The Nasdaq Composite surged 264.40 points (1.52%) to 17,710.74.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 have been on an upward trajectory for eight consecutive trading days since April 22.
During this period, the Dow has climbed 6.77%, while the S&P 500 has soared 8.65%.
Microsoft and Meta Lead the Charge
The upward trajectory of the market on this day was largely propelled by the performance of Microsoft and Meta.
Microsoft shares skyrocketed 30.14 USD (7.63%) to 425.40 USD, while Meta jumped 23.21 USD (4.23%) to 572.21 USD.
The surge pushed Microsoft into positive territory for the year, up 1.45%. Meta narrowed its year-to-date losses to 2.27%.
At one point during the session, Microsoft’s stock price soared 8% to 592.95 USD, briefly overtaking Apple as the largest company by market capitalization when Apple’s shares dipped 1.7% to 208.90 USD.
However, as Apple rebounded and Microsoft gave back some of its gains, their market cap rankings remained unchanged at the closing bell.
At market close, Apple’s market capitalization stood at 3.205 trillion USD, while Microsoft’s reached 3.162 trillion USD.
Apple shares ended the day at 213.32 USD, up 0.82 USD (0.39%).
Nvidia Surges While Tesla Declines
Nvidia and Tesla experienced contrasting fortunes in the market.
Nvidia’s stock climbed after earnings reports from major hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta confirmed the continued expansion of AI infrastructure investments.
Hyperscalers, referring to large cloud computing service providers, indicated their ongoing investment in AI infrastructure signaled robust demand for Nvidia’s semiconductors. This development allayed investor concerns about a potential slowdown in AI investments, which had been sparked by recent news about Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.
Nvidia closed the day up 2.69 USD (2.47%) at 111.61 USD, after surging more than 5.5% earlier in the session.
Tesla, on the other hand, experienced a volatile trading day following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the company’s board had considered replacing Elon Musk as CEO.
After initially jumping 3.1% to 290.87 USD, Tesla’s stock lost momentum and reversed course, closing down 1.64 USD (0.58%) at 280.52 USD.
Despite this day’s decline, Tesla’s stock had previously surged 24% over the six trading days leading up to Tuesday.
