Stocks in the artificial intelligence industry led the gains on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the trend that had been fluctuating for some time turning upward again.
The S&P 500 index rose by 0.6%, just 1.2% short of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 25 points with one hour left in trading, an increase of less than 0.1%; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 1.2%.
Most stocks in the S&P 500 index fell on that day, but influential AI stocks rose, offsetting some of this pressure. Due to concerns that rising borrowing costs will put more strain on companies when building data centers and purchasing more AI chips, AI stocks have been experiencing significant volatility for several weeks; currently, they are expected to record their second consecutive day of gains.
Broadcom rose 4.2% after the company announced a $63 billion financing deal, with several Wall Street institutions set to help Anthropic obtain Broadcom's XPU AI accelerators and networking solutions.
In the same industry, NVIDIA's stock price rose by 0.8%, which was also one of the strongest forces driving Broadcom to push up the S&P 500 index. CoreWeave rose by 8.5%. This company borrows money to purchase AI chips and then rents these chips to customers through cloud services, resulting in sharp fluctuations in its stock price during recent trading days.
General Motors rose by 5.6% after the company announced that it would transfer its shares from the New York Stock Exchange to NASDAQ for listing. The automaker stated that NASDAQ is home to many of the world's largest technology stocks, which aligns with its technology-driven strategy. This move could also see General Motors included in the NASDAQ 100 index, which would compel investment funds tracking this index to buy its shares.
General Motors began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1911.
JetBlue Airlines rose by 20.3%, despite the company reporting summer losses that exceeded analysts' expectations. CEO Joanna Geraghty stated that the company expects to return to sustained operating profits next year and achieve at least $1 in earnings per share by 2028.
Investors may already be prepared for worse results, as the stock of this airline had seen a cumulative decline of nearly 48% so far this year before the market opened on that day.
Another travel company, Royal Caribbean Group, also contributed to the market's rise, with its stock price increasing by 5.5%. This cruise operator reported summer profits that exceeded analysts' expectations and also raised its full-year profit forecasts.
Overall, companies are facing pressure to achieve strong profit growth. Financial analysts and investors have high expectations, which has allowed stock prices to climb to record highs recently, despite persistent pressures from high inflation, high interest rates, and other concerns.
Boeing fell 10.2% after the company announced its latest quarterly loss, which exceeded analysts' expectations.
Hilton Global Holdings fell 2.6% due to its summer revenue falling short of analyst expectations. The company also provided a profit forecast range for the fourth quarter, with the middle value being lower than what analysts anticipated. The hospitality company stated that it expects the "impact from the Middle East region to increase" this quarter.
Sherwin-Williams fell 1.9% due to its profits falling short of analyst expectations. High mortgage loan rates have suppressed the real estate industry, which in turn has dampened demand for the paints and coating products sold by Sherwin-Williams.
CEO Heidi Petz stated: "The customer sentiment and leading indicators we track indicate that demand will remain weak for the rest of this year and throughout 2027." At the same time, the company is also facing the pressure of inflation driving up raw material costs.
Recently, consumer confidence in the United States has declined significantly due to the persistent pressure of high inflation. However, a report released on Tuesday showed that consumer confidence in the U.S. improved in October, contrary to the expectations of economists who predicted further weakening.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields remained relatively stable before the Federal Reserve announced its latest interest rate decisions the following day. The Fed raised the federal funds rate for the first time in three years last month, hoping to curb inflation with this move, but Wall Street generally expects that interest rates will remain unchanged this time.
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds fell slightly from 5.00% later on Monday to 4.99%.
What helped to suppress yields was the decline in oil prices. The price of Brent crude oil fell by 1.2% to $109.41 per barrel.
In terms of overseas stock markets, major stock indices in Europe and Asia showed mixed gains and losses. The Seoul stock market rose by 3.1%, while the Shanghai stock market fell by 1.3%, which was one of the larger fluctuations.
AP Journalists Elaine Lai and Matt Ott have contributed to this report.
