S&P 500 Posts Best First Quarter Since 2019 [Video]

The S&P 500 finished at another record high on Thursday, capping off its best start to the year in five years as enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI) and hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates boosted sentiment and stocks. 

The S&P 500 inched up 0.1% on Thursday during a quiet pre-holiday trading session, pushing its gain for the year so far to 10.2%. That’s the highest first-quarter return for the index since 2019, when it rose 13%. The index closed at a record high in 22 of the 61 trading days in the first quarter.

Artificial intelligence was once again a thread connecting some of the index’s best-performing stocks. AI hype sent shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI), which joined the index earlier this month, about 255% higher over the quarter. Nvidia (NVDA) continued its monster run, gaining more than 82% since the start of the year. Also in the index’s …