US stocks up on Nvidia results and jobs data

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday as Nvidia reported record earnings on hot demand for its chips for powering artificial intelligence, while delayed US data showed that hiring beat expectations in September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.3 percent to 46,751.76, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent to 6,751.19.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.1 percent to 23,034.97.

Late Wednesday, Nvidia reported profit of $31.9 billion on record-high quarterly revenue of $57 billion.

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“Nvidia’s report might not dispel AI bubble concerns, yet investors are giving credit this morning where credit is due,” Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said in a note.

“Naturally, there is a ‘halo effect,’” he added, noting that Nvidia’s results have lifted related stocks.

Meanwhile, a delayed report on the US employment situation in September also “suggested the labor market was not falling apart” at the time, O’Hare said.

The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September, said the Labor Department on Thursday, significantly above analyst expectations.

But the unemployment rate also rose slightly, while August employment figures were revised downwards to show that the economy lost jobs in that month.

“The key takeaway is that this report wouldn’t be enough to convince the more hawkish-minded Fed officials to cut rates in December,” he said.

The broader market found additional cheer as well with US retail giant Walmart’s expectations-beating earnings report, released before the opening bell on Thursday.

Walmart shares were up 4.2 percent shortly after trading began.

Nvidia shares rose 3.8 percent.