NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Tuesday, as technology stocks recovered from a selloff ahead of AI heavyweight Nvidia’s results and an inflation report key to shaping interest rate expectations.
The gains could ease investor concerns sparked by a recent bond market rout that has lifted yields and pressured equities. They could also help set the tone before September, a historically weaker month for stocks.
Nvidia’s results on Wednesday will be the next test for the earnings-driven rally. Any signs of slowing growth could reignite concerns over stretched valuations and how long the AI boom can sustain.
“This is the classic problem of being the epicenter of the buildout— when you are the trade, execution stops being a catalyst and becomes a prerequisite,” said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial.
“(Nvidia CEO) Jensen (Huang) has to hand the market a new story: Rubin (chips) ramping ahead of schedule, China coming back, something. Otherwise he delivers the greatest quarter in the history of the semiconductor industry and the stock does nothing again.”
Markets have grown increasingly wary of cyclical spending in the sector and the methods hyperscalers are using to fund their AI buildouts.
Most megacaps were trading higher. Nvidia and Meta were up 1.3 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Chipmakers Intel and Micron added 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Data-storage company Western Digital rose 1.8 percent. The broader chips index recovered 1.5 percent after a 2.7 percent fall on Monday.
Advanced Micro Devices rose 5 percent after Raymond James upgraded the stock.
Dick’s Sporting Goods cratered 28 percent after the retailer slashed its annual forecasts. Sportswear giant Nike also dipped 2.8 percent.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.27 points, or 0.09 percent, to 53,461.43, the S&P 500 gained 18.46 points, or 0.24 percent, to 7,671.32 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 145.43 points, or 0.56 percent, to 26,125.62.
Declines in consumer-focused stocks such as Home Depot and McDonald’s left the Dow swinging between gains and losses.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower on Monday, following a sharp selloff in semiconductor shares even as markets largely shrugged off the latest US economic threats against Iran.
Comments