NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes moved higher on Tuesday as a surge in healthcare stocks and softer oil prices boosted risk appetite, building on a recovery from last week’s technology-led selloff.
Brent crude prices slipped 1.1 percent after touching a five-month high in a choppy session as traders weighed Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of vessel attacks in the Gulf.
Most S&P 500 sectors gained, with healthcare hitting an all-time high. The gains were led by large-cap drugmakers, including Eli Lilly’s 4.7 percent jump to a record high. Amgen, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie were also up more than 2 percent each.
The financial index also gained 1.2 percent.
Energy, however, led the losses, while an about 2 percent decline in Meta Platforms pulled the communication services sector down.
The market extended Monday’s rebound, when investors bought the dip in technology stocks following last week’s bruising selloff, fueled in part by concerns over CoreWeave’s debt load and the cost of financing the AI buildout.
AI-related shares were flat to higher on Tuesday, after early weakness in premarket trading. CoreWeave was last up 2.5 percent, while chip gauge Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 0.7 percent.
“You’re seeing some strength in some high-value stocks and the Dow, and so that’s helping to sort of lift the overall indexes,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
Elsewhere, shares of South Korean AI infrastructure company Elice Group tumbled nearly 30 percent in their market debut, slipping below their IPO price after the company raised 201.1 billion won (USD151.12 million) in its offering.
At 12:06 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 502.03 points, or 0.97 percent, to 52,468.06. The S&P 500 gained 32.33 points, or 0.42 percent, to 7,723.06, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 58.72 points, or 0.22 percent, to 26,489.60.
Investors are now closely watching this week’s corporate earnings for clues on whether companies can maintain strong growth in the face of mounting macroeconomic risks.
Quarterly results from SpaceX and Netflix are due after the market close on Tuesday, while heavyweights Meta and Tesla are scheduled to report on Wednesday.
Steel Dynamics fell 1.4 percent after the steelmaker missed third-quarter profit estimates.
General Motors shares dropped 6.9 percent after the automaker signaled pressure in coming months from higher commodity costs and lower truck sales.
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