US stocks: Wall Street ends higher as stocks reclaim some shine

[NEW YORK] Wall Street advanced on Wednesday (Sep 2), notching a partial rebound from a three-day losing streak as investors searched for deals among stocks and sectors that might have been oversold amid recent risk-off moves.

All three major US stock indexes gained ground, with the small-cap Russell 2000 outperforming its larger-cap peers, rising 1.1 per cent.

On the sector level, airlines, gold and silver miners and regional banks were the frontrunners, while software and services, seen as potential victims of AI disruption, underperformed on the day.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index, which has powered much of the stock market’s gains so far this year but has lost nearly one-fourth of its value since late June, was on the rise, with chipmaker Broadcom expected to deliver second-quarter results after the bell.

Nvidia, the chipmaker at the forefront of the AI wave, rose 3.2 per cent, while Micron and Qualcomm gained 2.4 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

“The war is continuing longer than anyone hoped, and when it ends, energy will cool and inflation won’t be as much of an issue,” said Lauren Cassidy, chief investment officer at Founders 100 ETF in Dallas. “At the same time, we just had a record earnings season, with wonderful fundamentals being driven by the accelerating adoption of AI.”

“AI adoption is still in the very early innings and it’s just now accelerating,” Cassidy added. “We could see exponential growth from here.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 295.01 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 53,061.89, the S&P 500 gained 35.16 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 7,666.63 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 118.05 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 26,217.83.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, materials enjoyed the biggest percentage gains, while real estate was the sole percentage loser.

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Hardware firm Dell advanced 15.8 per cent after raising its annual profit and revenue forecast.

Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman rose 3.9 per cent following its quarterly profit beat.

Uber Technologies gained 1.6 per cent after the rideshare app announced it will lay off about 10 per cent of its staff.

Bond selloff

Keeping gains in check, the market-shaking global bond selloff continued, fueled by fears over inflation and mushrooming government debt, and compounded by escalating tensions in the Middle East, which have put upward pressure on energy prices.

The United States and Iran ramped up their attacks in the biggest exchange of airstrikes since July, dousing hopes of a return to the negotiating table and raising the likelihood that protracted hostilities could result in systemic inflation and force central bank leaders to raise borrowing costs.

In economics, payrolls processor ADP reported fewer-than-expected private sector job adds in August, while new orders for core capital goods were downwardly revised, signalling a potential softening in US corporate spending plans.

International trade, second-quarter labour costs/productivity, and services PMI are among the economic reports on Thursday’s docket.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.78-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 150 new highs and 290 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 3,102 stocks rose and 1,679 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.85-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 135 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 14.75 billion shares, compared with the 15.19 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS