Live Vanguard IT ETF (VGT): Tech Stocks Power Impressive Market Performance on AI Prowess
Live Updates Live Coverage Updates appear automatically as they are published. AI Capex Intact 11:57 am by Gerelyn Terzo Citi analyst Christopher Danely remains bullish on AI spending, publishing a report indicating that the impact of the tariffs on tech capex have been overdone. He said, “Contrary to investors’ worries of slowing capex, it appears […] The post Live Vanguard IT ETF (VGT): Tech Stocks Power Impressive Market Performance on AI Prowess appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..
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AI Capex Intact
Citi analyst Christopher Danely remains bullish on AI spending, publishing a report indicating that the impact of the tariffs on tech capex have been overdone. He said, “Contrary to investors’ worries of slowing capex, it appears that spending for AI continues to be unabated. AI infrastructure buildouts remain as key priorities for hyper-scalers with the companies’ willingness to absorb the costs of tariffs. We view this as positive for AI-exposed stocks.” Citi’s Danely touts Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO), AMD (Nasdaq: AMD) and Micron (Nasdaq: MU).
Tech stocks are behind today’s impressive market action, as all three of the major stock market indices race higher, fueled by a 2.4% gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. The S&P 500 is also being lifted by the tech sector and is on pace for its eighth straight winning session, placing to rest fears about Sell in May for now. The VGT ETF is gaining 3% on the day, given its exposure to Big Tech stocks Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META), both of which are soaring today on the heels of strong quarterly earnings results.
With Q1’s GDP letdown still close in the rearview mirror, the markets are choosing to see the glass half full today as earnings season continues to roll on. Strong fundamentals powered by incessant AI demand and spending coupled with tariff resilience are shifting the mood on Wall Street.
Nevertheless, the week is not over and the markets still have Friday’s unemployment report for the month of April left to process. Economists are upbeat about it, saying that the labor market is likely to have remained steady despite failing to display the type of growth that the month of March saw. Today brought higher-than-expected jobless claims, but the markets are brushing it off.
Here’s a look at the performance as of morning trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 372.22 (+0.92%)
Nasdaq Composite: Up 404.97 (+2.3%)
S&P 500: Up 73.40 (+1.3%)
Market Movers
Meta Platforms stock is rallying 6% today thanks to yesterday’s stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings results and an AI business that is performing quite well, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The strong results including from Meta’s ads business helped to put to rest worries that tariffs were taking the air out of the AI trade.
Microsoft stock is up 9% higher on its blowout Q3 earnings report, as constant AI demand lifts its cloud business Azure. Microsoft is full speed ahead with AI and data center growth, and its market cap has reclaimed the $3.2 trillion level, making it the most valuable company in the world currently, ahead of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).
The CEO of discount retailer Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) has been ousted by the board of directors on some conflict of interest, but a new interim CEO has been named and the stock is rising 3% in response.
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) saw a steep 3.6% drop in first-quarter same-store sales, its weakest showing since the pandemic. The fast-food retailer was challenged by severe weather and a tepid consumer.
The post Live Vanguard IT ETF (VGT): Tech Stocks Power Impressive Market Performance on AI Prowess appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..
