Why US stocks are rising today: S&P 500, Nasdaq hit records as easing yields and oil fuel AI rally

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq touched record highs on Tuesday as Treasury yields retreated from multi-year peaks and oil prices fell, while investors looked ahead to the quarterly earnings season, according to the Reuters report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 243.69 points, or 0.48%, to 51,511.59. The S&P 500 gained 43.17 points, or 0.56%, to 7,817.12, while the Nasdaq Composite added 173.61 points, or 0.63%, to 27,650.92.

Most Magnificent Seven stocks advanced in early trading, with Meta Platforms, Tesla and Amazon gaining. Apple and Alphabet bucked the trend, slipping about 0.2% each. Nvidia rose 1.2%, bringing the chip designer’s market value closer to the $6 trillion mark.


“The space that I think is being looked at as what’s going to do the best is information technology,” Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, told Reuters. “The expectation for everybody else is pretty much lower except for energy. The higher energy prices are going to hurt consumer spending.”

Enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and expectations of robust corporate earnings supported technology stocks, adding momentum to the bull market that began in October 2022.

The 30-year Treasury yield held at 5.66%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell 2.1 basis points to 5.28%.

A weaker-than-expected payrolls report last week reduced expectations of near-term interest-rate increases. Traders now see a 78% chance that the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady this month, although a December increase remains largely priced in, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

At least four Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, are scheduled to speak on Tuesday. Nine of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors traded higher, led by utilities and healthcare.

Oil prices dropped more than 2% as resilient Middle Eastern crude exports and an emergency stockpile release by the Group of Seven eased concerns about supply. The S&P 500 energy sector fell 0.6%.

The third-quarter earnings season begins next week. Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to increase more than 30% from a year earlier, largely because of AI-related companies, according to LSEG data.

AMD gained nearly 1% after Chief Executive Lisa Su said the chipmaker planned to substantially increase supply in 2027 to meet booming demand for AI processors.

Constellation Energy led gains on the S&P 500, surging 12.9% after Alphabet’s Google signed a 3,590-megawatt power agreement with the company. Option Care Health jumped 32.9% after drug distributor McKesson and private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice agreed to acquire the infusion-therapy provider in a deal valued at about $5.8 billion, including debt.

Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by 1.91 to 1 on the NYSE and 1.64 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 recorded 18 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq Composite posted 39 new highs and 63 new lows.

(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)