Wall Street wrapped up a quietly positive session Thursday, with all three major indexes closing in the green ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. Trading volumes were noticeably thin as many participants had already checked out for the long weekend, but the light tape didn't stop bulls from nudging equities higher. The S&P 500 settled at 5,612, the Dow added modest ground near 44,180, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, closing around 18,940.
The star of the day was Nvidia, which surged more than 3% after a prominent Wall Street firm raised its price target and reiterated its enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending. The note argued that hyperscaler capital expenditure plans remain robust and that NVDA's Blackwell chip platform is ramping faster than anticipated. That enthusiasm spilled into the broader semiconductor space, lifting AMD and Broadcom as well.
On the downside, Walgreens Boots Alliance fell nearly 5% after management telegraphed weaker-than-expected results ahead of its upcoming earnings report, citing a cautious American consumer and ongoing margin pressures in its retail pharmacy business. Defensive and consumer staples names also lagged as investors rotated toward growth.
Macro conditions remained supportive. Oil held steady near $78 a barrel, gold traded around $2,418, and the VIX stayed relaxed at 16.4 — a signal that nobody is bracing for trouble heading into the holiday. Weekly jobless claims came in roughly in line with expectations, giving the Federal Reserve no urgent reason to shift course on rates.