Markets saw a quiet end to the first quarter of 2024 on Thursday, with all three major stock indexes either up or down slightly on the day. The market is closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday.
However, the subdued finish masked a quarter of the growth.
Here is an overview of the stock market in the first quarter.
The Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ all hit record highs.
The first quarter of 2024 was a fruitful year for investors, including the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq. Everything reached a new peak on the same dayMarch 20th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on the brink of surpassing the $40,000 mark for the first time..
Year to date in 2024, the Dow is up 5.5%, the S&P 500 is up 10.8% and the Nasdaq is up 10.9%.
AI will boost the market
Development of generative artificial intelligence Continued to boost AI and related stocks. His AI chip maker Nvidia particularly stood out, rising nearly 88% in one quarter.
Nvidia announces new AI chip, blackwellmeanwhile Featured GPU technology conferences Early this month. Blackwell computing platforms include: new B200 chip, consisting of 208 billion transistors. Faster and more powerful than previous versions. The highly sought-after $40,000 H100 chippowering some of the world’s most powerful AI models.
It wasn’t just Nvidia.Supermicrocomputer’s stock price ended the quarter with a huge 253.8% increase.
Big tech companies increasingly embrace the AI boom Scheduled to start in 2024 apple, Amazon, microsoftand Google’s parent alphabet.meanwhile Apple focuses on AI device plans in China, Amazon adds $2.75 billion to Anthropic investmenta startup at the forefront of generative artificial intelligence.
Fed offers hope even with stubborn inflation
There was optimism earlier in the quarter that inflation would continue its steady decline from its 2022 peak, giving the Federal Reserve room to start cutting interest rates.
It hasn’t happened yet, but consumer price indexa broad measure of the cost of goods and services, actually rose slightly near the end of the quarter.
but The Fed still gave inventors hope that interest rates might be lowered Stocks are likely to hit new all-time highs in the coming months.
Reddit and Trump drive new social media stock boom
reddit Once the company began operations, its stock price soared 70%. The long-awaited IPO In late March, it closed at about 48% on its first day of trading. Reddit was the first major social media company to go public Since Pinterest 2019. In the last few days of the quarter it began to return to Earth. Short sellers started betting on the stock..
and shares in former President Donald Trump’s newly merged and listed social media company Trump Media. Shares soared 50% on the first day of trading.
Bitcoin bulls are back
After experiencing a long cryptocurrency winter, Bitcoin resumed activity in the first quarter of 2024. SEC approved dozens spot bitcoin ETF, Giving the cryptocurrency industry a much-needed boost. The following, The UK has given its own green light to Bitcoin-related securities.
On-site Bitcoin ETF market recorded record inflows in March, leads to Bitcoin has reached its peak and Boosting the entire cryptocurrency market.
Boeing crash
Aerospace stocks and airline stocks were a different story. Scandals and headlines about safety incidents are increasing rapidly..
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun resigns put on a cap A tough start to 2024 for aircraft manufacturersstill stuck in the quagmire. Crisis surrounding the 737 Max jet.and United Airlines suffers from repeated safety incidentsend the quarter faces greater federal oversight.
Boeing’s stock price has fallen 23.3% since the beginning of the year, and at one point fell. Worst performing stocks in the S&P 500.
United Airlines stock management performs well despite problems, up 17.6%
