U.S. stocks advance with Dow, S&P 500 hitting record highs

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 and the Dow to new heights, fueled by surging tech stocks and bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 395.19 points, or 1.05 percent, to 37,863.8, breaking its own record at the end of last year. The S&P 500 added 58.87 points, or 1.23 percent, to 4,839.81, surpassing the prior intraday record of 4,818.62, which was set in January 2022. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 255.32 points, or 1.70 percent, to 15,310.97.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with technology and financials leading the gainers by adding 2.35 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer staples and utilities dropped 0.33 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively.

The benchmark's close confirmed that the S&P 500 has been in a bull market since it closed at its low on Oct. 12, 2022. "It really is an encouraging day in terms of the action, and 4,800 certainly has been a key level which has been difficult to surmount. So if we continue to move in this direction, that's going to be a very positive sentiment sign," said Lisa Erickson, head of public markets at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Chipmakers Qualcomm, Marvell Technology, Nvidia, and Microchip Technology all joined the party after server maker Super Micro Computer boosted its earnings forecast, sending its own shares soaring. The rally extended to tech giants like Microsoft and Apple, pushing both the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index and the S&P 500 information technology sector index to new records.

Consumer confidence soared to a 17-month high in January, according to the University of Michigan's preliminary sentiment survey. The index jumped to 78.8, buoyed by positive economic data, indicating a potentially strong year ahead for spending and growth.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said Friday morning that the Fed could start cutting interest rates this year "if we continue to make surprising progress on inflation."

"We don't want to commit ourselves before the job is done," he said, adding that "as inflation comes down, that opens the door to a reduction in restrictiveness."

Interest rate traders now see a 52 percent chance of a March rate cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.