The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, March 1, edition that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Thursday, buoyed by tech stocks linked to artificial intelligence, while inflation data and comments from Federal Reserve officials helped shape expectations for the timing of the Fed's interest rate cuts. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Canada's main stock index also rallied, as investors cheered results from Canadian Natural Resources and the major banks as well as domestic data showing stronger-than-expected economic growth. Heavyweight chipmaker Nvidia advanced 2.08 per cent as one of the biggest boosts to the benchmark S&P Index and Nasdaq while smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices surged 9.06 per cent. Traders added to bets the Fed will cut rates in June, according to CME's FedWatch Tool, after a Commerce Department report showed U.S. prices picked up in January in line with expectations amid strong gains in the costs of services. Baird analyst Ross Mayfield says, "Without kind of a hawkish surprise here, which it wasn't, it was soft or at least in line, then there's no real reason for the market to expect the Fed to get more hawkish than they already outlined."