S&P 500, Nasdaq advance as Nvidia jumps; spotlight on Trump tariff block
NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Thursday, boosted by Nvidia after the AI-chipmaker posted strong revenue growth, while investors also assessed a federal court ruling that blocked most of US President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Nvidia added 4.8% after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly sales growth, driven by customers stockpiling AI chips ahead of US export restrictions on China.
The company, however, warned that the new curbs are expected to cut $8 billion from its current-quarter sales.
'If there's a larger take away from this earnings announcement ... the demand they're seeing elsewhere in the world balances those restrictions that are in place and it seems like there might be more to come,' said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index rose in the wake of Nvidia's results, last up 1.2%.
Stocks, however, were off their session highs as investors assessed a US court decision which invalidated with immediate effect most of Trump's sweeping levies imposed since January.
The court decision, however, did not address some industry-specific tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum.
Kevin Hassett, the White House economic adviser, said three trade deals were nearly done and he expected more despite the judgment.
At 11:23 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.60 points, or 0.02%, to 42,108.30, the S&P 500 gained 24.56 points, or 0.42%, to 5,913.11 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 142.29 points, or 0.75%, to 19,243.23.
Dow component Salesforce weighed on the index, with its shares slumping 6.3% even as the enterprise software provider raised its annual revenue and adjusted profit forecasts.
Most megacap and growth stocks lost some steam, with Apple - which Trump threatened with tariffs last week - now up only 0.1%.
Boeing climbed 3.3% after CEO Kelly Ortberg said the planemaker aims to increase production of its best-selling 737 MAX jets to 42 aircraft per month in the next few months and boost output to 47 a month in early 2026.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, with information technology and real estate being the biggest gainers.
The S&P 500 is currently about 3% below an all-time high touched on February 19, rebounding from a nearly 19% decline earlier in April on easing trade tensions, strong earnings and subdued inflation data that aided risk appetite.
May has been a solid month for equities, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on pace for their best monthly performances since November 2023.
A second reading from the Commerce Department showed gross domestic product contracted 0.2% in the first quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.3% contraction.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.88-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 33 new highs and 45 new lows.
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