The Dow Jones fell 0.11%, the Nasdaq index gained 1.71% and the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.88%.

The session was animated by Nvidia (+24.37%), whose ambitious forecasts for the second quarter shook the whole place.

Specialist in graphics cards, processors that have become indispensable in the race to artificial intelligence (AI), the Santa Clara group sees investments in data centers reach a trillion dollars to meet the new requirements of AI.

"Nvidia has become synonymous with AI," said Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle. "They are the only company that offers a complete solution for AI. They are in the right place at the right time."

In one day, the company that has just celebrated its 30th anniversary has earned more than $ 180 billion in market value and is now approaching a trillion in capitalization, a very closed circle that has only five members in the world.

Driven by the Nvidia wave, many major AI players, especially the so-called generative artificial intelligence, have been sought after on Wall Street.

Semiconductor manufacturers AMD (+11.16%), Broadcaom (7.25%) or TSMC (+12.00%), Taiwanese but listed on Wall Street, as well as Microsoft (+3.85%) and Alphabet (+2.23%), have thus carappled.

"It's similar to what we've seen since the beginning of the year, with prices supported by technology and the growth potential of artificial intelligence," said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones. "For some companies, including Nvidia, it's more than a prospect, it's already translating into revenue and earnings."

The battle of AI will not only make winners. While a good part of the tech was at the party, the specialist of remote computing (cloud) Snowflake unscrewed (-16.50%) after reporting a slowdown in demand.

The euphoria of the technology sector has not been transmitted to the rest of the New York market, still tense by the debt crisis, which has not yet recorded any major progress Thursday, a week before a possible default of the United States.

Today's indicators also confirmed the strength of the US economy, far from the brake expected by the US central bank (Fed).

U.S. growth was revised up for the first quarter to 1.3 percent year-on-year from 1.1 percent initially announced, and weekly jobless claims came in below economists' projections.

"Inflationary pressures remain, forcing central banks to consider possible further rate hikes," Kourkafas said.

Traders now give a 50% probability of a further Fed hike in June, a scenario they almost completely ruled out a month ago.

This context has led to a sharp rise in bond yields for several weeks. On Thursday, the yield on 2-year US government bonds stood at 4.53%, the highest in two and a half months, against 4.37% the previous day at the close.

This high interest rate environment is bad for equities because it reduces lending and weighs on the economy.

On the other hand, the chain of electronics stores Best Buy rose (+3.08%) after publishing a quarterly net profit above expectations and confirming its forecasts for the full year. Chief Executive Corie Barry nevertheless acknowledged that "customers (were) cautious and trade-offs" in their purchases.

American Airlines soared (+4.20%) after statements by Chief Financial Officer Devon May, who said that a court decision canceling its partnership with JetBlue on certain routes in the north-east of the United States would not have an impact on the group's results.

© 2023 AFP