Nasdaq Composite Crosses 20,000 For First Time

The Nasdaq Composite scale crossed 20,000 points for nan first clip connected Wednesday arsenic large tech stocks soared aft ostentation information affirmed Wall Street’s expectations for different liking complaint trim later this month. 

The Nasdaq roseate 1.8% to adjacent astatine 20,034.89 connected Wednesday. The mostly of stocks roseate aft caller user ostentation information met expectations, reassuring investors that nan Federal Reserve officials will trim liking rates for nan 3rd clip this twelvemonth erstwhile they meet adjacent week.

Big tech stocks were peculiarly buoyant. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) precocious much than 5% for a 2nd consecutive time aft nan Google genitor unveiled a quantum computing chip. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) besides gained much than 5%, to adjacent astatine a grounds precocious for nan first clip since 2021. Nvidia (NVDA) shares climbed 3%, while Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) roseate 2%.

The Nasdaq's Road to 20K

The Nasdaq took astir 4 and a half years to double successful worth aft crossing 10,000 points for nan first clip successful June 2020, erstwhile stocks were rebounding from March’s Covid-19 sell-off. 

Tech stocks, which dress up astir 60% of nan capitalization-weighted index, person turbocharged nan index's capacity successful caller years. In 2020 and 2021, nan tech assemblage soared arsenic Covid-19 lockdowns forced much of regular life onto integer platforms. Tech companies deed a velocity bump successful 2022 arsenic maturation slowed amid a gradual and partial return to pre-pandemic life. The assemblage was reinvigorated successful precocious 2022 by nan merchandise of ChatGPT, which sparked an AI frenzy that gave emergence to nan Magnificent Seven and propelled tech stocks to today's grounds highs. 

The Nasdaq has returned astir 19% annually since 2020, outpacing nan little tech-focused S&P 500’s mean return complete nan aforesaid play and astir double nan index's mean return since its inception successful 1957.

Update—Dec. 11, 2024: This article has been updated to bespeak scale and banal prices arsenic of nan marketplace close.