NEW YORK: Wall Street’s three main indexes hovered near record highs on Tuesday, underpinned by shares of megacap tech stocks such as Microsoft and Apple in a week packed with earnings from US heavyweights.
Microsoft jumped 2.2 percent after reaching a deal that allows OpenAI to restructure into a public benefit corporation while giving Microsoft a stake of 27 percent in the ChatGPT maker.
Apple shares crossed USD4 trillion in market value for the first time earlier in the day, hitting a record high before easing to trade flat. Strong demand for the latest iPhone models has allayed fears over its slow progress in the AI race.
Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon and Meta are scheduled to report results later in the week with investors scrutinizing any AI-related updates to justify high valuations and hefty investments.
“It’s been pretty impressive from our view that we continue to hit all-time highs. Tech and AI and the Big Seven have been driving performance as of late, but earnings have been good as well,” said Jack Herr, primary investment analyst at Guidestone.
On the earnings front, global economy bellwether United Parcel Service forecast fourth-quarter revenue above expectations, sending shares up 8 percent. Rival FedEx added 1.6 percent.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to grow 10.5 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, higher than the 8.8 percent expected earlier this month, according to LSEG data.
At 11:42 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 156.56 points, or 0.33 percent, to 47,701.15, the S&P 500 lost 0.94 points, or flat, to 6,874.22 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 64.50 points, or 0.27 percent, to 23,701.78.
The S&P 500 tech index led gains, with AI bellweather Nvidia adding 0.4 percent after US President Donald Trump said he would meet CEO Jensen Huang.
The US government has been shut down for nearly a month, delaying crucial economic data and forcing traders to rely on private releases and corporate announcements.
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