Wall Street ends higher; banks gain following results, chips rally with TSMC

Group 1: Quarterly Results and Market Reactions - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reported a rise in quarterly profit, driven by increased dealmaking, with Goldman shares rising 4.6% and Morgan Stanley gaining 5.8% [1][9] - BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, saw its shares increase by 5.9% as market rallies boosted fee income and assets under management reached a record $14.04 trillion in Q4 [7][10] - The results from these banks have initiated the fourth-quarter U.S. earnings season, which is expected to gain momentum with a more diverse group of companies reporting next week [8][10] Group 2: Sector Performance and Trends - The S&P 500 industrials index achieved a closing record high, indicating strong performance in traditional sectors [2][10] - Investors are currently favoring undervalued stocks in the banking and industrial sectors over tech stocks, which have been seen as overvalued recently [2][6] - Both mid-cap and small-cap indices, particularly the Russell 2000, have outperformed the S&P 500 this year, with the Russell 2000 reaching a closing record high [7][10] Group 3: Technology Sector Insights - Tech stocks, particularly chipmakers, experienced gains, with TSMC predicting robust annual growth and announcing plans for increased U.S. manufacturing capacity, leading to a 4.4% rise in its U.S.-listed shares [4][10] - An index of semiconductors climbed by 1.8%, with notable increases in shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, and Applied Materials [5][10] - Concerns regarding tech stock valuations have been alleviated by positive news from TSMC, which has helped restore momentum in the tech sector [6][10] Group 4: Market Activity Metrics - U.S. exchange volume reached 19.12 billion shares, surpassing the 16.81 billion average over the last 20 trading days, indicating heightened trading activity [8][10] - On the NYSE, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 1.92-to-1, with 759 new highs and 55 new lows recorded [8][10] - The Nasdaq also saw a favorable ratio of advancing to declining stocks at 1.26-to-1, with 2,683 stocks rising and 2,137 falling [9][10]