Share prices for global tech firms like Facebook and Google are at an all-time high today, spurred on by a small bounce for Apple after its developer conference and the news that Twitter and Netflix will be added to the S&P 500 index.
Strong gains among tech heavyweights lifted the Nasdaq to a record intra-day high, as the so-called FAANG stocks – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – rose between 0.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent, in turn raising the S&P technology index as a whole by 0.3 per cent.
The Nasdaq also closed at a record high on Monday, despite a generally cautious investor stance ahead of trade discussions at this weekends G-7 Summit in Quebec City.
Asias so-called BAATS stocks – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Taiwan Semiconductor and Samsung – have also risen, with Alibaba hitting a new high and Baidus share price elevating by 5 per cent.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 technology index rose 2.01 per cent at 485.16 points as the closing bell rang, its highest since June 2001. This was boosted by advances for Dutch manufacturing firm ASM International (up 8.84 per cent), Apple supplier AMS (4.8 per cent) and chipmaker Infineon Technologies (2.57 per cent).
Twitters share price increase was powered by a statement from the S&P Dow Jones Indices late last night, which said that Twitter will be replacing Monsanto on the S&P 500 index on 7 June.
The social media site posted its second consecutive quarterly profit in April, with analysts taking the results as a positive sign of progress after the social media giant struggled following its flotation in 2013.
Netflix is also set to replace Monsanto on the S&P 100 index, which saw its shares rise 0.2 per cent after markets closed in New York last night.
Apple, meanwhile, opened on Wall Street this morning at a record high after a bump in share prices, boosted by the positive reaction to its software announcements from Mondays Worldwide Developers Conference.
