[New York Stock Market Briefing] NVIDIA, the world's first with a $4 Trillion Market Cap… S&P500 and Nasdaq hit record highs

The New York stock market saw all three major indices rise together, driven by the strength in technology stocks. NVIDIA surpassed a market capitalization of $4 trillion (about ₩5,500 trillion) for the first time ever during trading.

On the 9th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 44,458.30, up 217.54 points (0.49%) from the previous day.

The S&P500 index rose 37.74 points (0.61%) to 6,263.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 192.87 points (0.94%) to finish at 20,611.34. Both the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index once again reached all-time highs.

President Donald Trump foreshadowed an additional tariff letter release on this day, but the market started off strong, unfazed by the wavering tariff policy.

On this day, President Trump released a tariff letter stating that starting from August 1, tariffs of 20–30% would be imposed on the Philippines, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, and Moldova.

The minutes of the June Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released on this day indicated that the possibility of a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut in July is low. Only two Fed members were considering an immediate rate cut, while most focused on inflation rates due to the implementation of tariffs and anticipated a slight cut once or twice in the second half of the year.

According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch Tool, the federal funds rate futures market saw a 63.9% probability of a 25bp rate cut in September. This is up slightly from 60.8% at the end of the previous day.

On this day, NVIDIA's stock price rose to $164.42 during trading, up about 2.5% from the previous day, pushing its market cap above $4 trillion for the first time globally. Apple was the first to achieve a $3 trillion market cap in January 2022.

However, the closing price trimmed gains, ending up 1.8% at $162.88. The market cap recorded $3.972 trillion, falling back below $4 trillion.

NVIDIA first reached a $2 trillion market cap in February last year. It crossed the $3 trillion mark in June last year, and about a year later, became the first ever to reach $4 trillion globally.

NVIDIA's surge appears to be due to continued strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips from major tech companies.

Bloomberg reported that these tech companies are expected to invest about $350 billion in AI in the next fiscal year, up from $310 billion this year. Demand for AI chips remains robust.

With NVIDIA’s gains, all major tech companies with a market cap over $1 trillion also showed strong performances. Microsoft (MS) rose 1.39%, Apple 0.54%, Amazon 1.45%, Alphabet (Google) 1.3%, and Meta 1.68%.

Only Tesla declined 0.65%. Tesla’s recent weakness has brought its market cap below $1 trillion.

The world’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks, finished slightly higher following news that it is selling a stake in its China business unit, which could be valued at up to $10 billion.

Noh Jung-dong, Hankyung.com Reporter dong2@hankyung.com