Stock market today: Wall Street’s AI frenzy and strong bank profits send stocks higher
NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial intelligence helped push stocks to their best level in more than 15 months on Tuesday, along with stronger-than-expected profit reports from several big financial companies.
The S&P 500 rose 32.19, or 0.7%, to 4,554.98 and its highest finish since early April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 366.58, or 1.1%, to 34,951.93, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 108.69, or 0.8%, to 14,353.64.
Microsoft was the biggest single force pushing up the S&P 500, by far. It shook off a morning loss and rose 4% after announcing the pricing for some artificial-intelligence services. It will charge $30 per user per month for its Microsoft 365 Copilot, which Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called a “flex-the-muscles move.”
Wall Street has sent a select group of stocks soaring this year on hopes that AI will drive tremendous growth in profits and herald a revolution for the global economy. Besides Microsoft’s nearly 50% gain for the year, Nvidia has more than tripled.
Stocks in the financial industry also drove the market higher. Charles Schwab jumped 12.6% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. It was one of several big financial companies to report better results than forecast, including
PNC Financial Services Group, meanwhile, said its baseline outlook is for a mild recession to start in late 2023 or early 2024, lasting into the middle of next year. It also reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected, and its stock rose 2.5%.
Such statements get at the biggest question setting Wall Street’s agenda: whether the economy can avoid a long-predicted recession and outlast high inflation, which has forced the Federal Reserve to crank up interest rates.
Reports on the economy Tuesday came in mixed. One said that
Treasury yields bounced around following Tuesday’s economic reports.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.79% from 3.81% late Monday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.
The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more on expectations for the Fed, inched up to 4.76% from 4.75%.
In markets abroad, stocks rose modestly in Europe and were mixed in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 2.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3%.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.