Nasdaq hits record high, stocks close higher to cap February
The Nasdaq (^IXIC) notches an all-time high, rising above 16,000 on Thursday, as all of the stock market indexes (^DJI, ^GSPC) close in the green to cap off a February of solid gains.
Yahoo Finance Senior Markets Reporter Jared Blikre breaks down the market and sector action seen over the last 20 days.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
Video Transcript
JARED BLIKRE: Just checking in on some of the indices around the world, not just in the US have we seen some outsized gains. The winner overall is over in Tokyo. We had an 8% gain in the Nikkei 225 also famously rose to the first record high in that market since 1989.
But we want to check out the benchmark in the US. S&P 500 up 5%. And you are correct, Julie, the NASDAQ composite notching its first record high close since November of 2021. So that market up about 6% this year.
And some other milestones, really interesting. NVIDIA, we got some interesting stats on NVIDIA as well. And you can take a look at the month to day totals right behind me on the Wi-Fi interactive. But NVIDIA having the best month since May of 2023. It has been up for four straight months.
Meta, best month since November 2022. It is up for six straight months. And guess what? Meta has been up 15 of the last 16 months. And if I just show you a chart here real quick, you can see the length of this run. Here's the three-year chart. And there is that run that we're talking about, 15 out of 16 months.
Apple did not have the best month. That's closing at the bottom end of its range. That's down 2% for the month of February. Alphabet also down 1.2%. So there's been talk that the Magnificent Seven maybe should boot a couple members. Even Microsoft lagging a bit, only up 4%. But NVIDIA up almost 30%, Meta 25%. Amazon up 14%.
And let's just check in on the sector action. And see who the big winner is consumer discretionary. I was just talking Amazon. Amazon is the biggest component there, but also Tesla. Tesla a big one in there.
And then you have industrials and materials. So I've kind of been harping on writing about the broadening of this rally. And the month to date totals really tell that story there. We don't get to tech, and it's not even outperforming until you get to the number 4 spot here. And also, I'd add that utilities, staple, and real estate, those defensive sectors, those pull up the rear there.
So overall, a hugely bullish month. And if I check in on some of our leaders here, not surprisingly, Bitcoin takes the cake, up about 45% depending on your proxy there. What did not work during the month, cannabis, it looks like regional banks and also some corporate bonds, whether high grade or low grade, high yield. Those did not work out.
But just about everything-- and even the fringier parts of the market, as we've been talking about, Julie and Josh, IPOs up 15%. Disruption, that's ARKK up 12%. And chip stocks, the stalwart of AI, up 11% for the month.
- Yeah, interesting stuff. I even see retail up there, up 11% as well, the XRT. Interesting stuff there, Jared. Thanks so much for running us through all of it.
