On Thursday, U.S. stocks continued their ascent to record levels on Wall Street, primarily driven by impressive gains in the chipmaker sector.
The S&P 500 increased by 0.3% to reach 5,241.53, marking its third consecutive day of setting new all-time highs, with the majority of stocks in the index experiencing positive movements.
The Dow Jones industrial average also saw a notable increase, rising by 0.7% to 39,781.37, while the Nasdaq composite climbed by 0.2% to 16,401.84, both adding to the records set the day before.
Micron, a leading chipmaker, led the surge by jumping 14.1% after reporting significantly better-than-expected results for the latest quarter.
The company also provided a forecast for the current quarter that exceeded analysts' estimates. Another chipmaker, Broadcom, performed well with a 5.6% increase following an investor presentation highlighting its opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), which significantly contributed to the S&P 500's gains.
Reddit's debut as a publicly traded stock was also noteworthy, with a 48.4% increase from its initial price of $34 a share.
However, Apple experienced a 4.1% decline after the U.S. Justice Department announced an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing it of creating an illegal monopoly in smartphones.
Accenture and Darden Restaurants were among the companies that weighed on the market, with Accenture dropping by 9.3% despite reporting stronger-than-expected profits, as its forecast fell short of estimates.
Darden Restaurants fell by 6.5% after its revenue forecast missed analysts' expectations.
The Federal Reserve's announcement that it still plans to implement three rate cuts this year helped alleviate some concerns on Wall Street about inflation.
Reports indicating a stronger-than-expected U.S. economy, including fewer workers filing for unemployment benefits and positive manufacturing activity data, also contributed to the market's positive sentiment.
Looking ahead, Wall Street will closely monitor the U.S. personal consumption and expenditures data for February, which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation.
Additionally, markets in Europe and Asia mostly saw gains, with China announcing measures to support its economy and the Swiss National Bank cutting its key interest rate, making Switzerland the first major financial center to announce a rate cut in recent months.
The Bank of England, however, kept its main interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high and did not indicate when it might start to cut rates, despite a sharp drop in inflation.