The Nasdaq just logged its best quarter since 2020, powered higher by Nvidia and Meta

• The Nasdaq Composite just posted its best quarter since 2020.
• The tech-heavy index jumped 17% as investors started to position for the Federal Reserve potentially pausing its interest-rate increases.
• Chipmaker Nvidia and social-media giant Meta were the two best-performing Nasdaq stocks in the first quarter.

The Nasdaq Composite just wrapped up its best quarter almost three years, powered higher by outsized gains from some of the best-known US tech stocks.

The index rallied 17% over the three months ended March 31 for its best returns since the second quarter of 2020, when tech shares rebounded sharply after crashing in the early days of the pandemic.