* US government faces shutdown deadline next week (March 1)
* Fed Gov. Waller wants more evidence inflation is cooling before cutting rates
* US existing home sales rose 3.1% in January but fell vs. year-ago level
* Jobless claims in US decline to lowest level in five weeks
* US economic activity fell in January via Chicago Fed Nat’l Activity Index, but…
* US economy continues modest expansion in February, PMI survey finds:

Semiconductor stocks (SMH) rallied to a new high on Thursday (Feb. 22), led by a surge in Nvidia shares (NVDA), which reported soaring demand for its computer chips, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications. The rally suggests the bullish embrace of AI as an investment theme will continue. The general rise in semi stocks is also bullish for the near-term economic outlook, based on the view that the industry’s shares are a proxy for the business cycle.