Wall Street rises as Alphabet, Tesla and Intel earnings loom after AI chip stocks rebound
US stocks have opened higher as investors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East.
Wall Street’s main indices have risen, led by recovering chip stocks, while investors awaited a key slate of earnings from major technology companies that have powered the market’s AI-driven rally.
The second-quarter earnings season will pick up pace later this week, with reports due from several major companies, including Alphabet, Tesla, Intel and IBM.
Investors will closely watch earnings from Intel and Texas Instruments for signals on whether the semiconductor sector can regain momentum after a sharp pullback.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.A surge in AI capital spending by hyperscalers has been a major driver behind this year’s market gains, lifting chip stocks and other companies that are seen as the beneficiaries of the build-out, and helping Wall Street climb to record levels.
But last week’s sell-off raised concerns that the rally had run too far.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index ended Friday more than 20 per cent below its late-June record high, confirming a bear-market decline.
The gauge was up 2.5 per cent on Monday.
“There’s just a little less room for error in the market at this point. Any sort of events or earnings news could probably move the market down,” said Jack Herr, senior investment analyst at GuideStone Funds.
“As we move into the second half of the year, market expectations are higher than they were before.”
Markets are expecting S&P 500 earnings growth of 26 per cent for the second quarter, year-on-year, up from an earlier estimate of 23.7 per cent, according to data compiled by LSEG.
In early trading on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.39 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 52,224.81, the S&P 500 gained 44.81 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 7,502.50 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 234.45 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 25,754.69.
Micron Technology and SanDisk were up 5.1 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively and leading gains among chip makers.
Meanwhile, Alphabet added 3.4 per cent after a report said the Google-parent is developing new chips to run its AI models.
The information technology and communication services sector were leading gains on the benchmark S&P 500.
Last week’s declines in major US indices came despite benign inflation data that eased some concerns about a Federal Reserve rate increase this month, and a solid start to second-quarter earnings season from major US banks.
Markets are pricing in about a 15 per cent chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed’s July meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Investors were closely watching the developments in the US-Israeli war with Iran after a recent escalation in the nearly five-month-old conflict stoked inflation fears.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that opens a new front in the Middle East war and increases the threat to global energy supplies and trade. Among other movers, Domino’s Pizza gained 3.6 per cent after the pizza chain’s quarterly revenue edged past Wall Street estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 55 new lows.
