Shares of technology companies rose as investors continued to pile into fast-rising mega-cap stocks.
Shares of Tesla rose by about 4%, bringing its market capitalization substantially over $415 billion, as investors clamored for shares of the company, whose value has doubled since June, ahead of a one-for-five stock split Friday.
Xpeng, one of Tesla's Chinese rivals, will raise $1.5 billion through an initial public offering in the U.S., more than initially planned, because of high investor demand.
Shares of other multibillion dollar companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Facebook are also sharply higher on the week. "This reminds me in so many different ways of 1999," said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at money manager Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. "You have a narrow group of stocks that are rising, and really driving the market higher on the belief and narrative that we're going to change forever how we live." Mr. Schutte said developments in the decade after 1999, when investors shifted from the tech stocks to other areas, could foreshadow a rotation from the large-cap tech stocks in the relatively near future.
"Obviously, there are secular trends occurring in the economy, pushing us toward a lot of things we're doing with technology -- [such as] Zoom calls, having our groceries delivered ... but I don't think that's a 'forever' new environment."
A Japanese memory-chip maker purchased from Toshiba by a consortium led by American investment firm Bain Capital plans to list its shares on Oct. 6 and estimated its value at $20 billion, making it one of the year's largest initial public offerings.
Hot demand for HP laptops, driven by remote-learning and working demand, offset a 20% revenue drop in the office-equipment maker's more profitable printing business during the latest quarter.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
