Nvidia's blowout earnings push US stocks higher

• Nvidia's strong earnings beat on Wednesday sparked a market-wide rally.
• Major indexes climbed Thursday as trading kicked off.

US stocks climbed as the opening bell rang Thursday, fueled by Nvidia's strong earnings beat Wednesday after hours.

The chip maker, led by CEO Jensen Huang, has emerged as the leader in the artificial intelligence boom, and now boasts a market capitalization of about $1.8 trillion. At the start of 2023, its value hovered at $350 billion.

The strong result powered the wider market higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a fresh record and the Nasdaq jumping more than 2%.

Ahead of the company's blowout earnings, Goldman Sachs strategists had called Nvidia the "most important stock in the world," and Wedbush's Dan Ives continues to deem Huang the "godfather of AI."

Nvidia gave upbeat guidance for the year ahead and reported record revenue, coming in 265% higher than one year ago thanks to huge demand for its AI business.

Shares of Nvidia climbed more than 10% in pre-market trading Thursday, and opened squarely in the green following Wednesday's dip.

Investors on Wednesday took in January's Fed minutes release. FOMC participants suggested that the Federal Funds Rate was "likely at its peak" for this cycle, though they maintained that they needed to see more evidence still of cooling inflation.

Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected on Thursday at 201,000, compared to estimates of 216,000.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 5,043.37, up 1.24%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,856.77, up 0.63% (+244.53 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,901.54, up 2.04%

Here's what else is going on:

• JPMorgan warns the US is heading toward stagflation.
• Hedge funds are cutting exposure to the Magnificent Seven stocks.
• The billionaire Winklevoss twins gave $4.9 million to a super PAC backing crypto-friendly politicians.
• Ether is outperforming bitcoin thanks to fresh ETF hype for the second-largest cryptocurrency.
• Russia has never been richer after selling $37 billion in oil to India last year.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices dipped, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.17% to $77.77 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved lower 0.25% to $82.82 a barrel.
• Gold edged higher 0.02% to $2,034.70 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield was nearly flat at 4.327%.
• Bitcoin climbed 0.09% to $51,048.