After a small setback in early trading, strong gains for semiconductor stocks helped push the S&P 500 higher on Thursday. The index was up 0.9% in recent trading, on track for the strongest start to a year since 2013, Dow Jones data showed.
That year, the S&P 500 kicked off trading with a 2.5% advance.
The small-cap Russell 2000 was also on track for its best start since 2013, while the Dow was poised for its best first session since 2020. The Nasdaq’s 1% gain in early going qualified it for the best start since 2022.
Breadth was strong on Thursday, a notable departure from the weakness that marred December. There were 441 gainers in the S&P 500 in early trading on Thursday, the most since Christmas Eve.
Semiconductor stocks were big winners on Thursday, despite tallying an ominous “death cross” on Tuesday to close out 2024.