Washington DC [US], September 16: Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab hit a market capitalization of $3 trillion for the first time on Monday, riding on renewed optimism around artificial intelligence and a favorable antitrust ruling.
Class A shares of the company (GOOGL.O), opens new tab were up 3.8% at $250, while Class C shares climbed 3.7% to $250.4 - both trading at record highs.
Including Monday's gains, the company's shares have rallied more than 32% so far this year, the best performer among the so-called "Magnificent 7" stocks and outpacing the 12.5% gain for the S&P 500 (.SPX)
Alphabet joined other tech giants Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab in hitting a $3 trillion valuation, while AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, the world's most valuable company, boasts a market cap of $4.25 trillion.
Technology and AI-linked stocks have powered Wall Street's main indexes to record highs lately amid growing hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this week.
Oracle's (ORCL.N), opens new tab blowout forecast last week was the latest to fire up the AI trade.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners, said tech stocks have been the leaders of the recent rally and "there has been no other (sector) in the past 18 months, maybe even two years that has had such excitement from investors."
The communications services sub-sector (.SPLRCL), opens new tab - which houses Alphabet - has jumped more than 26% so far this year, making it the best performing sector among the 11 major sub-indexes with information technology (.SPLRCT), opens new tab in second place.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
