Morgans AM: Friday, 19 May 2023

US equity markets rallied, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq logging their highest closes since August last year amid reports of further progress in resolving the debt-ceiling debate in Congress - Dow rose +115-points or +0.34%, The broader S&P500 gained +0.94%, with Information Technology (up +2.06%) leading seven of the eleven primary sectors higher. The Nasdaq rallied +1.51%. Apple Inc (+1.37%) and Google-parent Alphabet Inc (+1.68%) advanced to log their highest settlements since April last year. Nvidia Corp gained +4.97% to US$316.78, marking the chipmaker’s highest close since 8 December, 2021 and ~5% below its all-time closing high of US$333.76 set on 29 November, 2021. The latest rally – which sees the stock up ~116.76% year-to-date - came after the company announced a slew of high-performance gaming cards aimed at budget shoppers. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 added +0.58%.