Nasdaq Composite Today: TSM Leads Another AI Stock Frenzy (TSM, NVDA, AVGO)

Just past the 12:20 p.m. ET and the markets are still holding their gains, while small caps turn red.

• Nasdaq-100: Up 94.15 (+.53%)
• S&P 500: Up 23.04(.37%)
• Dow Jones: Up 140.74 (.33%)
• Russell 2000: Down 12.33 (-.54%)

NVIDIA (NVDA) stock hit a new record high of $140.89, surpassing its previous June high of $140.76. Nvidia’s GPUs are in high demand from tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Google, boosting expectations for significant revenue growth from its next-generation AI chips.

NVIDIA’s stock is up 180% year-to-date and is again the second largest company in the United States with a $3.43 trillion market cap. To put this growth into perspective, NVIDIA has gained more than $800 billion in the past month. That is more than the total market value of Tesla, gained in just the past 30 days.

The monthly figures from the NAHB/ Wells Fargo U.S. Housing Market Index (HMI) came in today and homebuilders were 4.88% more confident in the health of the U.S. housing market and 7.50% more confident than this time last year.

The positive outlook is due to stabilized demand supply constraint easing. Builders are more optimistic about future sales as 30-year interest rates are close to yearly lows after the Feds .50 basis point interest rate cut last month.

Just after 10:30 a.m. ET markets are still in the positive.

• Nasdaq-100: Up 81.40 (+.45%)
• S&P 500: Up 19.22 (.33%)
• Dow Jones: Up 106.69 (.25%)

The market news is still being dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor’s earnings release and optimistic outlook on chip demand.

Let’s look at the Nasdaq upgrades and downgrades for the day.

Upgrades

• Illumina (ILMN)- Upgraded by HSBC Securities from a Hold to Buy
• Enphase Energy (ENPH)- Upgraded by Guggenheim from Sell to Neutral

Downgrades

• Fortinet (FTNT)- Downgraded by Mizuho from Neutral to Underperform
• Qiagen (QGEN)- Downgraded by HSBC Securities from Buy to Hold
• SolarEdge (SEDG)- Downgraded by Guggenheim from Neutral to Sell
• Uber (UBER)- Downgraded by Daiwa Securities from Outperform to Neutral

At 9:30 a.m. ET, the broad markets opened in the green.

• Nasdaq-100: Up 94.15 (+.53%)
• S&P 500: Up 23.04(.37%)
• Dow Jones: Up 140.74 (.33%)

Tech stocks are leading the morning charge as Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) updated its sales forecast from mid 20% rise to 30%. Investors are more optimistic afterASML Holdings (ASML) sour outlook earlier in the week.

Stocks pulling the Nasdaq higher this morning:

• NVIDIA (NVDA): Up 2.86%
• Broadcom (AVGO): Up 3.13
• Microsoft (MSFT): Up 1.22

Stocks pulling the Nasdaq lower:

• CSX Corp. (CSX): Down 4.34%
• PDD Holdings (PDD): Down 2.43%
• Netflix (NFLX): Down .47%

The price of gold is once again in record territory, moving above $2,700 per ounce despite the U.S. dollar strengthening by 3%. While these assets typically move in opposite directions, safe-haven investors likely remain uncertain about whether inflation risks will stay under control.

September retail sales showed a monthly increase of .4% versus expectations of .3%. Initial jobless claims were 241,000, a reduction of 19,000 from the prior week.

Shortly after the release of this economic data Nasdaq futures are now up .90% while S&P futures are up .50%.

Among widely followed stocks, the biggest loss premarket is Lucid (Nasdaq: LCID). The electric car maker is down 19% after announcing a secondary offering to shore up its balance sheet. The company will offer 262.5 million shares and currently trades for just $3.28.

In earnings news, M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) just released earnings and beat expectations. Banks have done very well this earnings season.

Stock futures are currently up across indexes, but that may change at 8:30 a.m. ET. Two key pieces of macroeconomic data are being released at that time: Initial Jobless Claims and September retail sales numbers.

Jobless claims hit 258,000 last week, but that number was boosted by Helene. With another major hurricane having hit Florida – Hurricane Milton – numbers may once again be skewed.