S&P 500 Joins Nasdaq in All-Time-High Territory: Stock Market Today
A pullback for Treasury yields while crude oil prices continued to soften sent stocks higher again, as markets focus on AI-supported fundamentals.
The S&P 500 reached its first new all-time high since August, and the Nasdaq Composite hit a fresh peak for the second straight trading session, as selling pressure in the global bond market eased amid up-and-down intraday price action. With another earnings season on the horizon, investors, traders and speculators remain focused on the potential benefits of artificial intelligence (AI).
At the closing bell, the broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.6% to 7,819, a new all-time closing high, as the index extended its winning streak to four. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also posted a new high, rising 0.5% to 27,599. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 0.5% to 51,521. Papa Dow is still about 6% below its own new high.
"The fourth quarter is seasonally the strongest quarter, and November is the second strongest month," Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates observes. Navellier also notes "that since 2027 is the third year of a Presidential election, which is the best-performing year for the S&P 500 during the Presidential election cycle, investor optimism is rising."
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Navellier expects that "all the bickering about data centers and high energy prices will diminish" after midterm elections next month.
Indeed, as Kiplinger's Anne Kates-Smith writes, "If history is a guide, you can expect a power shift in Congress. But history also shows that whether your party is victorious or not, your portfolio is likely to survive the midterms unscathed—and maybe a little ahead."
Looking for more timely stock market news to help gauge the health of your portfolio? Sign up for Closing Bell, our free newsletter that's delivered straight to your inbox at the close of each trading day.
With traffic through the Strait of Hormuz improving in the face of rising attacks by Iran, the front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract was higher by 0.4% to $89.80 per barrel. WTI closed above $100 as recently as September 18.
The 2-year Treasury yield was down 3.3 basis points to 4.798%, while the 10-year Treasury yield (-2.7 bps, 5.284%) and the 30-year Treasury yield (-0.5 bps, 5.659%) also pulled back from recent highs.
The $6 trillion stock
Maybe you're old enough to remember "The Six Million Dollar Man," maybe you're not. But the fact that Nvidia (NVDA, +0.1%) is on the verge of a $6 trillion market cap is at least as monumental as that TV show used to seem.
Even if only a naive segment of the audience was awed by what we imagined about bionics back then, if you're reading this, you're probably paying some attention to AI and robotics right now.
Indeed, that's what Nvidia refers to as "physical AI." The company says its research here "is driving the future of intelligent automation, enabling robots to handle complex tasks and safely collaborate with humans."
Meanwhile, renewed AI boom optimism lifted the Magnificent 7 stocks to a combined value of more than $25 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
In fact, Amazon (AMZN, +2.0%) and Microsoft (MSFT, +0.8%) outperformed Nvidia today, as markets continue to reprice their AI infrastructure initiatives.
Alphabet (GOOGL, +0.4%) and Apple (AAPL, +0.2%) were higher, too, though Meta Platforms (META, -0.4%) posted a modest loss.
Tesla's (TSLA, +0.5%) gain helped Elon Musk remain the world's first trillion-dollar man in net worth terms.
CEG gets another nuclear-level Mag 7 boost
Constellation Energy (CEG, +12.3%) was among the top-performing S&P 500 stocks after management of the electric company announced a new long-term deal with Google that includes a 20-year power purchase agreement.
The commitment from Alphabet's search subsidiary will support upgrades sufficient to add 890 megawatts of capacity at 11 Constellation-owned nuclear plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Constellation is also using Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise to establish an "AI for energy" blueprint focused on accelerating delivery, optimizing efficiency and protecting infrastructure.
Alphabet will buy another 2,700 MW from Constellation's broader power fleet over a 15-year period, and the companies aren't done making clean energy deals.
The utility stock was down 23.9% year to date through Monday, as markets waited for more news about power-hungry hyperscalers and their appetite for its nuclear capabilities.
In 2024, Constellation agreed to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania with support from a 20-year PPA with Microsoft. Last year, it reached a 20-year PPA with Meta.
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