Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. [123RF]
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. [123RF]

US stocks closed higher across the board Tuesday, driven by a sharp rebound in semiconductor shares and strong corporate earnings. Bargain hunters moved into chip stocks that had sold off sharply after Chinese technology companies unveiled large-scale AI models, while investor attention is shifting toward Big Tech earnings reports due this week from Alphabet, Tesla and others.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 385.38 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 52,224.64 on Tuesday at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The S&P 500 rose 65.92 points, or 0.89 percent, to 7,509.20, and NASDAQ climbed 329.13 points, or 1.29 percent, to 25,837.21.

Semiconductor stocks led the advance. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 5.21 percent, while Micron — which had suffered steep losses last week — jumped 12.17 percent. Nvidia gained 1.97 percent and Intel rose 8.39 percent. SK hynix's American depositary receipts also soared 13.75 percent. Analysts attributed the broad-based buying to bargain hunters targeting chip stocks that had fallen sharply on concerns about a slowdown in AI investment.

Some market participants view the rebound as a correction of oversold conditions rather than the start of a new uptrend. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had fallen more than 20 percent from its all-time high recorded June 22, entering a technical bear market on Friday, but has since rebounded for two consecutive sessions, trimming the decline to roughly 15 percent from the peak. Analysts said hedge funds, which had significantly cut their semiconductor holdings, were rebuilding positions ahead of this week's earnings releases.

Second-quarter corporate results also bolstered investor sentiment. Industrial conglomerate 3M rose 7.32 percent after posting earnings that beat market expectations and raising its full-year profit outlook. General Motors climbed 4.91 percent after reporting stronger-than-expected results on the back of solid North America sales.

Oil prices continued to climb, however, amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. September-delivery Brent crude settled at $91.01 per barrel, up 2.01 percent from the previous session, while August-delivery West Texas Intermediate rose 2.02 percent to $84.91 per barrel — both hitting their highest levels in about five weeks. Rising oil prices pushed the yield on the 10-year US government bond up 4 basis points from the previous session to 4.63 percent.

Higher oil prices and bond yields also strengthened the dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.226 to 101.188. The yen weakened past 163 per dollar for the first time since December 1986, reaching 163.205, while the won stood at 1,482.0 per dollar.

Market attention is now turning to Big Tech earnings reports set to dominate this week. Alphabet, Tesla, IBM and Texas Instruments are scheduled to report after Wednesday's market close, with Intel to follow on Thursday. The results are seen as a key indicator of whether the AI investment cycle will continue and of the broader outlook for the semiconductor industry. Keith Parker, a strategist at UBS, said AI-driven earnings growth remains intact and continues to support further upside for technology stocks.


hajun825@heraldcorp.com