Shared by Sam Lawhon, Larson Director of Investments

The S&P 500 index rose to a fresh record close this week as a technology-driven rally helped the market benchmark end February and kick off March on a positive note.

The S&P 500 ended Friday’s session at 5,137.08, up from last Friday’s closing level of 5,088.80, which was a record at the time. It reached another closing high on Thursday as the index ended February with a 5.2% gain before moving higher on Friday. The index also set a fresh intraday high on Friday of 5,140.33.

The technology sector led the climb following stronger-than-expected fiscal Q4 results last week from chip maker NVIDIA (NVDA). Strong demand for NVIDIA’s generative artificial intelligence or AI helped boost investors’ appetite for many other stocks in the AI realm.

Adding to the AI excitement this week, Dell Technologies (DELL) reported a surprise increase in Q4 earnings as revenue also came in above analysts’ expectations and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Clarke said the company saw strong demand continue for its AI-optimized server portfolio.

The technology sector climbed 2.5%, followed by a 2.1% rise in real estate and a 2% increase in consumer discretionary. Other gainers up by at least 1% each included energy, materials and industrials.

Gainers in the tech sector included shares of NetApp (NTAP), which soared 20% on the week as the company reported fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue above analysts’ expectations.

The technology sector climbed 2.5%, followed by a 2.1% rise in real estate and a 2% increase in consumer discretionary. Other gainers up by at least 1% each included energy, materials and industrials.

In real estate, shares of American Tower (AMT) rose 6.2% as the company reported Q4 adjusted funds from operations above analysts’ expectations while revenue also topped the Street view.

In consumer discretionary, shares of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) jumped 19% as the cruise operator reported stronger-than-expected Q4 revenue amid healthy consumer demand and turned its first full-year profit since 2019.

On the downside, the health care sector fell 1%, followed by a 0.6% drop in utilities and a 0.5% decline in consumer staples. Communication services and financials also edged lower.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shed 7.2% amid a Wall Street Journal report that the health insurance provider is facing an antitrust investigation launched by the US Department of Justice. The investigation is looking into the possible effects of the company’s doctor-group acquisitions on rivals and consumers, the report said.

Next week, economic reports earlier in the week will include January factory orders and wholesale inventories, but most attention will be on the February employment report due on Friday.

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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