NEW YORK - The Dow Jones index finished above 39,000 for the first time on Feb 22, following mammoth earnings from Nvidia that prompted a fresh round of bullish buying over artificial intelligence.

The Dow finished at 39,069.11, up 1.2 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 2.1 per cent to 5,087.03, also a record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 3 per cent to 16,041.62, leaving it about 15 points short of an all-time high.

Shares of Nvidia surged 16.4 per cent, lifting its market value to almost US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion), after reporting that quarterly profits soared to US$12.3 billion – on record high revenue driven by demand for its technology to power artificial intelligence.

“Nvidia shows that AI is here to stay,” said Mr Adam Sarhan, of 50 Park Investments. “It’s a tipping point where AI is going to go mainstream and get mass adoption and it’s going to be very bullish.”

Prior to Nvidia’s results, stocks had been under pressure in recent days as investors shifted their expectations on monetary policy, now eyeing later Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

But those concerns were outweighed on Feb 22 by the buzz over AI. Other companies tied to AI had big gains, including Advanced Micro Devices, up 10.7 per cent, and Super Micro Computer, up 32.9 per cent.

Among other companies, Rivian shares plunged more than 25 per cent as it offered a tepid production forecast for its electric vehicles and said it would trim headcount.

Moderna surged 13.5 per cent after reporting a surprise profit and pointed to “significant pipeline advancements” in 2023 on new drug developments.

AT&T fell 2.4 per cent as it suffered an hours-long outage affecting thousands of US consumers.

By mid-afternoon, the company said service had been restored. AFP