S&P 500 gains, Nasdaq advances ~1%; Dow ends modestly red
Tech leads S&P sector gainers; energy weakest group
Dollar ~flat; crude, gold, bitcoin gain
U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield edges down to ~4.39%
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LOUDER THAN BOMBS: NVIDIA OPTIMISM SOOTHES WALL STREET'S GEOPOLITICAL JITTERS
Wall Street ended mostly higher as investors appeared to largely shrug off a potential escalation to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Tech stocks .SPLRCT put the Nasdaq over the +1% mark, with megacap growth stocks also boosting the S&P 500 into green territory.
The blue-chip Dow, however, lost ground on the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 120.66 points, or 0.28%, to 43,268.94, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 23.34 points, or 0.40%, to 5,916.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 195.66 points, or 1.04%, to 18,987.47.
Ukraine marked its 1,000th day of Russia's invasion by launching U.S.-made missiles into Russian territory, taking quick advantage of President Biden's permission to do so, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to lower the bar for potential use of nuclear weapons.
While the escalation scared many investors away from equities and toward safe-haven assets, those fears appeared to ease as the session progressed.
Walmart WMT.N helped matters by hiking its annual sales and profit forecasts due to high volume and growing market share, sounding an upbeat note just as the holiday shopping season steps up to the starting gate.
Lowe's LOW.N results, while beating estimates due to hurricane-related demand, were more muted as big-ticket spending was constrained.
Target TGT.N and Deere DE.N are two high profile companies yet to post quarterly earnings this week, but the lot of them are likely to be handily eclipsed by Nvidia NVDA.O.
Nvidia, the AI darling, is expected to post an 85.7% year-over-year adjusted EPS surge on soaring demand for its chips, and markets will be parsing the company's results for insight as to how far the AI gravy train will take them.
The company's stock gained a robust 4.9% on the day.
Other winners included the FANG group of momentum stocks .NYFANG, and airlines .SPCOMAIR, which advanced 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively.
On the economic front, while hurricane season dented housing starts, elevated mortgage rates and a supply glut of new homes on the market suggest that the homebuilding segment of the housing market is facing headwinds that aren't related to the weather.
Later this week, mortgage data and existing home sales will shed further light on the housing market.
Here's your closing snapshot:
(Stephen Culp)
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FOR TUESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
BOFA CLIENT BUYING WAVE BIGGEST IN 8 WEEKS - CLICK HERE
WITH YIELDS HAVING RALLIED, WHAT ABOUT EQUITIES? - CLICK HERE
BMO CAPITAL MARKETS SETS 2025 YEAR-END S&P 500 TARGET AT 6,700 - CLICK HERE
HOUSING START HEADWINDS: HURRICANES YESTERDAY, DEPORTATIONS AND TARIFFS TOMORROW - CLICK HERE
U.S. STOCKS PRESSURED BY ESCALATING RUSSIA-UKRAINE TENSIONS - CLICK HERE
POST-ELECTION ANIMAL SPIRITS FADE, BUT NOT GONE - CLICK HERE
GREEN SHOOTS IN GREECE - CLICK HERE
WEAKEST QUARTER FOR LUXURY GOODS MAY BE BEHIND US - BOFA - CLICK HERE
"DON'T GIVE UP ON EUROPE," SAYS UBS - CLICK HERE
AUTOS AND BANKS DENT STOXX, RUSSIA WORRIES MOUNT - CLICK HERE
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: POSITIVE START IN STORE - CLICK HERE
TRADERS FOCUS ON FED AS KEY TRUMP PICKS AWAITED - CLICK HERE
Closing snapshot https://reut.rs/3UZudBv
