Tech Surge Lifts Markets as Nasdaq Leads Weekly Gains

Weekly Market Commentary

Tech Surge Lifts Markets as Nasdaq Leads Weekly Gains

Posted on February 21, 2025

Tech Surge Lifts Markets as Nasdaq Leads Weekly Gains

The Major Markets logged gains across the board last week. The Nasdaq added over 2.5%, landing in the top spot. This gain was is large part due to the rally in IT which added 3.75% percent at the sector level. Communication Services also helped to lift the larger index as it added about 2 percentage points.

Technology was fueled by optimism. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) surged 32% after forecasting strong revenue growth through 2026. The company is also expected to dodge being delisted due to delays in their financial reporting which helped to further stimulate market gains. Intel also made news, adding 24%, after Vice President JD Vance advocated for the use of American made chips for domestic AI chip production.

In geopolitics, President Trump announced the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on Trade. The action is an effort to balance trade agreements with other countries that charge higher tariffs on American goods being imported into their countries by threatening the country with a corresponding tariff on their goods.

Major Markets		YTD as of 02/14/2025
	Nasdaq
	Dow Jones Industrial
	S&P 500
	MSCI World
	MSCI EM
	Russell 2000
	Bar US Agg Bnd

S&P Sectors

YTD as of 02/14/2025

Comm. Services

Cons. Discretionary

Cons. Staples

Energy

Financials

Health Care

Industrials

Info. Technology

Materials

Real Estate

Utilities

Agent/Broker Dealer Use Only

In economic news, the January CPI reading came in much hotter than expected with the monthly increase of .5% compared to the .3% expected. Year over year, this resulted in a rate of 3% instead of the 2.8% expected. The Producer Price Index came in nominally better with a monthly increase of .4% instead of the 0.3% expected.
This week will be flush with a number of housing updates. We’ll also get the February flash reports at the end of the week along with Consumer Sentiment.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top-stocks/smci-stock-price-super-micro-computer-shares-swing-wildly-on-earnings-surge-12-on-likely-delisting-dodge-and-strong-2026-forecast/ar-AA1z0OiY

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-fair-and-reciprocal-plan-on-trade/

High earner? Learn how a backdoor Roth IRA can help maximize your retirement savings—even if you face income limits.

The S&P 500® Index is a capitalization index of 500 stock-designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of stock representing all major industries. https://us.spindices.com/indices/equity/sp-500

The Dow Jones Industrial Average® (The Dow®), is a price-weighted measure of 30 U.S. blue-chip companies. The index covers all industries except transportation and utilities. https://us.spindices.com/indices/equity/dow-jones-industrial-average

The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. Today the NASDAQ Composite includes over 2,500 companies, more than most other stock market indexes. Because it is so broad-based, the Composite is one of the most widely followed and quoted major market indexes. https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/Index/Overview/COMP

The MSCI World Index, which is part of The Modern Index Strategy, is a broad global equity benchmark that represents large and mid-cap equity performance across 23 developed markets countries. It covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country and MSCI World benchmark does not offer exposure to emerging markets.

The MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index is designed to represent the performance of large- and mid-cap securities in 24 Emerging Markets countries of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. As of December 2017, it had more than 830 constituents and covered approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. https://www.msci.com/

The S&P GSCI Crude Oil index provides investors with a reliable and publicly available benchmark for investment performance in the crude oil market. https://us.spindices.com/indices

Companies in the S&P 500 Sector Indices are classified based on the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®). https://us.spindices.com/indices

Weekly Market Commentary