Hourly Market Review - Mar 22, 2024 14 PM

Stocks were mostly lower on Friday, but the Dow and S&P 500 were on track for their best weeks of the year, while the Nasdaq was set for its best week since January. The rally has been driven by optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates multiple times in the coming months. Shares of Digital World Acquisition were lower after shareholders approved a transaction to merge with former President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform. Reddit shares were down after its debut, while FedEx stock was higher.

Nvidia stock climbed following the conclusion of its GTC developer event, where it unveiled its new range of Blackwell chips. The announcements received positive reviews from Wall Street, but the market seems to be waiting for signs of further growth, potentially from outside the U.S. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri raised his target price on Nvidia stock to $1,100 from $800, maintaining a Buy rating. He believes Nvidia is on the cusp of a new wave of demand from global enterprises and sovereigns. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has suggested that each country will need to build its own artificial-intelligence infrastructure, supporting the company's continued growth. Arcuri mentioned that any near-term weakness in Nvidia stock could be an attractive buying opportunity, with more revenue growth expected in 2025.

Among other chip makers, Advanced Micro Devices was down 1.7% on Friday, and Intel was down 0.3%. Nvidia shares have risen 85% this year through Thursday's close, compared with a 9.9% increase in the S&P 500 index and a 9.3% gain in the Nasdaq Composite over the same period.