WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Thursday before once again ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages closed higher for the fifth straight session, reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 88.89 points or 0.4 percent to 22,844.05, the Dow rose 78.62 points or 0.2 percent to 46,519.72 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.15 points or 0.1 percent to 6,715.35.
The continued advance by the major averages partly reflected optimism about the artificial intelligence trade, which contributed to strength among tech stocks.
AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) pulled back off its best levels but still advanced by 0.9 percent to a record closing high, while fellow AI player Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged by 3.5 percent.
The strength among AI stocks came after OpenAI reportedly completed a deal placing a $500 billion valuation on the company.
With the sale of about $6.6 billion worth of stock by current and former employees, the ChatGPT owner has surpassed Elon Musk's SpaceX as world's most valuable privately-owned company.
'Reports suggest there was appetite for nearly twice as many as the actual number of shares on offer,' said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Meanwhile, traders continued to shrug off concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its second day with no signs of an imminent resolution.
The Senate adjourned without holding votes today in recognition of the Yom Kippur holiday and will reconvene on Friday to vote again on Republican and Democratic funding bills that have previously failed.
President Donald Trump sought to frame the shutdown in a positive light in a post on Truth Social this morning, claiming it gives him an 'unprecedented opportunity' to slash federal agencies favored by Democrats.
Due to the shutdown, the releases of reports on weekly jobless claims and factory orders that were scheduled for this morning have been indefinitely postponed.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks turned in a strong performance on the day amid the AI optimism, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.9 percent to a record closing high.
Notable strength also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in almost two months.
On the other hand, energy stocks moved lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.5 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.2 percent.
Pharmaceutical stocks also saw some weakness following a two-day surge, resulting in a 1.0 percent loss by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. While Japan's Nikkei 2225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 1.6 percent.
Most European stocks also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly higher over the course of the session after recovering from initial weakness. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.8 basis points to 4.088 percent.
Looking Ahead
The release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday will be delayed due to the government shutdown, but the Institute for Supply Management is still due to release its report on service sector activity.
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