U.S. Stocks Move Notably Higher As Nvidia, Micron Surge

Company News - Nvidia (NVDA) shares surged by 2.6 percent following the announcement of a multi-year strategic partnership with Meta (META) to enhance on-premises, cloud, and AI infrastructure, enabling large-scale deployment of Nvidia CPUs and millions of GPUs [2] - Micron (MU) shares spiked by 5.9 percent after David Tepper's Appaloosa Management increased its holdings in the company by 200 percent [3] - Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped by 2.7 percent after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square raised its stake in the company by 65 percent during the fourth quarter [3] Economic Data - Positive sentiment in the market was bolstered by U.S. economic data, including a report from the Federal Reserve indicating that industrial production increased more than expected in January [4] - The Federal Reserve is set to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which may provide insights into the future outlook for interest rates [4] Sector Performance - Gold stocks experienced a 3.5 percent surge, driven by rising prices of the precious metal, as reflected in the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index [4] - The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index rose by 2.5 percent, indicating considerable strength among computer hardware stocks [5] - The Philadelphia Oil Service Index increased by 2.3 percent, supported by a spike in crude oil prices, contributing to strength in oil service stocks [5] - Other sectors such as brokerage, semiconductor, and software stocks also showed notable strength, while utilities and commercial real estate stocks faced declines [5] International Markets - In the Asia-Pacific region, stock markets mostly moved higher, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Index up by 1.0 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbing by 0.5 percent [6] - Major European markets also saw gains, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index up by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index up by 1.2 percent, and the French CAC 40 Index up by 0.8 percent [6]