[New York Stock Market Briefing] S&P500 Hits Record High Again… NVIDIA Optimism 'Prevails'

The three major New York stock market indices closed higher. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index surpassed the 6500 level for the first time in history. NVIDIA's revenue outlook failed to meet expectations, but investor sentiment for artificial intelligence (AI) remained intact.

On the 28th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 45,636.9, up 71.67 points (0.16%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 rose 20.46 points (0.32%) to 6,501.86, and the Nasdaq climbed 115.02 points (0.53%) to 21,705.16.

NVIDIA (-0.79%) said the previous day that it recorded second-quarter (May–July) revenue of $46.74 billion and earnings per share of $1.05. While this slightly exceeded analysts' estimates, it was judged to fall short of market expectations. As a result, its shares fell about 3% in after-hours trading the prior day.

However, on Wall Street there were views that NVIDIA's full-year revenue guidance did not assume H20 chip sales to China, and if China and the U.S. reach an agreement on those sales, third-quarter revenue could be much better than the guidance suggests.

Investment strategist Ross Mayfield told Reuters, "Criticism that NVIDIA's results were disappointing is only relative to overly high expectations," adding, "AI remains the market's structural engine."

Mega-cap tech companies with market capitalizations above $1 trillion were mostly stronger, excluding Tesla and NVIDIA. Broadcom and Alphabet rose more than 2%. Alphabet hit a record high. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, composed of AI and semiconductor stocks, also rose 0.49%. Micron gained more than 3%.

Snowflake's stock surged 20% after it raised its 2026 product revenue outlook reflecting AI demand. HP rose 4.6% as quarterly revenue beat market expectations on increased demand for AI-powered PCs. In contrast, Hormel Foods plunged 13% after lowering its earnings outlook.

The U.S. economy showed signs of strength. The U.S. Commerce Department said preliminary seasonally adjusted annualized GDP growth for Q2 was 3.3% quarter-on-quarter. The market had expected a 3.1% increase, and the previously released flash estimate was a 3% increase.

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. matched market expectations. According to the U.S. Labor Department, seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending the 23rd came in at 229,000. The market had expected 230,000.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, federal funds futures priced in an 87.2% chance of a 25bp cut in the policy rate in September (1bp = 0.01% point). This is nearly unchanged from late the previous trading day.

Jin Young-gi, Hankyung.com reporter young71@hankyung.com