S&P 500 hits new record, boosted by Nvidia’s post-earnings surge: live updates

Nvidia is worth over $2 trillion, but it’s not in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

If that were the case, Nvidia’s premarket gain of nearly $67 per share alone would send the Dow up about 440 points at market open Thursday.

Indeed, the archaic average was designed by Charles Dow and Edward Jones in May 1896 and uses a divisor to calculate its value rather than the market capitalization of a company, as for example the S&P 500 does. Today, each increase or decrease of one dollar on a Dow Jones stock results in an average increase of 6.6 points.

—Scott Schnipper

After a brief fear of increased layoffs, last week’s jobless claims indicated the job market is still strong.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 215,000 for the week ended May 18, down 8,000 from the previous period’s upwardly revised level, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected 220,000.

Continuing claims, which are lagging by a week, climbed to 1.794 million, but that figure was just below FactSet’s estimate.

—Jeff Cox

Nvidia’s 10-for-1 stock split is the latest in a series of higher-profile stock splits this year – with companies like Walmart and Chipotle citing a desire to make their shares more affordable to investors and employees. Nvidia is the third company with a stock price above $900 to announce a stock split this year – Chipotle at over $3,100 and Lam Research at over $960 – being the others.

Nvidia’s stock price could also open the door to its inclusion in the Dow Industrials – should that index committee feel the desire to add one of the world’s biggest stocks to the star stock average. The price-weighted Dow Jones gives more influence to more expensive stocks, making it harder for Nvidia to qualify at the current price of $1,000. However, a post-split price of $100 makes an inclusion more acceptable given that about a third of the 30 Dow Jones stocks have share prices around $100 or less.

What could Nvidia potentially replace in the Dow? Two tech stalwarts could be targets: chipmaker Intel and networking equipment maker Cisco Systems. The two long-standing Dow stocks currently have some of the lowest weightings on the index and have seen their businesses lag behind their competitors in recent years. These stocks have also significantly underperformed the broader market: Cisco down 3% and Intel up 7% over the past year, while the S&P 500 is up 28%.

Nvidia’s strong earnings and strong guidance have boosted the broader semiconductor sector, as enthusiasm around AI continues to grow.

Super Micro Computer jumped 4% before the bell, while Micron Technology and AMD were up 3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was also up 3%.

European stock markets opened slightly higher on Thursday, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.3% at 8:18 a.m. London time.

The French CAC 40 and the German DAX both fell 0.3%.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index bucked the trend and slipped 0.1%, as traders digested a surprise election announcement and Wednesday’s UK inflation figures, which dampened market expectations for a rate cut in June.

—Jenni Reid

The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose to 1.012%, its highest level since 2012, in afternoon trading.

The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark rate unchanged last month, keeping its benchmark rate between 0% and 0.1%. The BOJ had said it would continue to carry out bond purchases in line with its March decision.

Japanese stocks rose, with the Nikkei 225 index up 1.31%.

-Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korea’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.5%, as forecast by a Reuters survey.

This is the 11th consecutive meeting in which the Bank of Korea has kept interest rates stable. The BOK said it expects economic growth of 2.5 percent this year, higher than its previous forecast of 2.1 percent.

He expects the speed of information technology economic expansion, consumption recovery and major countries’ monetary policies to influence South Korea’s growth.

The BOK this year expects consumer price inflation of 2.6% and core price inflation of 2.2%, the same as levels estimated in February.

The central bank is expected to cut rates by 50 basis points in the fourth quarter, according to a Reuters survey.

-Shreyashi Sanyal

Shares of Singapore’s flag carrier Singapore Airlines fell 1.3% on Thursday, its biggest decline in more than a month.

This comes after SIA flight SQ321 encountered extreme turbulence on Tuesday, leading to one fatality and an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand. Singapore markets were closed on Wednesday.

The deceased was a 73-year-old British man who died following a suspected heart attack.

As of Wednesday, 58 people are still hospitalized, according to local media CNA, including 20 in intensive care.

-Lim Hui Jie

Japanese manufacturing activity increased for the first time in a year, while services continued to grow in May, according to a private survey.

Jibun Bank’s flash Japanese manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.5 in May from 49.6 in April. A PMI above 50 means growth.

The Flash Services PMI rose to 53.6 in May, down from the final reading of 54.3 in April.

Business activity grew at its fastest pace in nine months, to 52.4 in May from 52.3 in April.

“The expansion of commercial activity remained driven by services, but the near stabilization of manufacturing production gives hope for an expansion of growth later in the year,” the survey said.

-Shreyashi Sanyal

Here are some of the stocks moving after the close:

• Snowflake — The cloud computing company jumped more than 4%. First-quarter fiscal revenues beat Street expectations, coming in at $829 million, versus consensus estimates of $786 million, per LSEG.
• VF Corp. — The clothing and footwear company fell nearly 12% after posting an unexpected loss for the latest quarter and revenue falling short of Wall Street estimates.
• LiveRamp Holdings — The ad tech stock jumped nearly 17% on its fiscal fourth-quarter results, beating analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. LiveRamp also released strong guidance for the current quarter and full year.

Read the full list of names on the move here.

-Samantha Subin

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment fell 6% in extended trading after Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with it, that the Justice Department would sue the ticketing giant for antitrust violations.

Remedies that could be on the table include a breakup of Live Nation, sources close to Bloomberg told Bloomberg. The concert promoter merged with Ticketmaster in 2010.

Earlier this month, Live Nation reported a record first quarter, with revenue climbing to $3.8 billion, up 21% from last year.

–Darla Mercado

Nvidia shares jumped more than 6% to surpass the $1,000 mark for the first time in overnight trading, following another robust quarter driven by the strength of artificial intelligence.

The chipmaker reported adjusted earnings of $6.12 per share, beating LSEG’s estimate of $5.59. Revenue came in at $26.04 billion, ahead of an estimate of $24.65 billion. The company also offered strong sales guidance, saying it expected revenue of $28 billion for the current quarter, compared to LSEG’s estimate of $26.61 billion.

Nvidia also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and said revenue jumped 262% year over year during the period, for a third straight quarter of growth exceeding 200%.

—Samantha Subin, Kif Lessing and Ashley Capoot