By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global stock indexes mostly climbed on Tuesday, with shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia bouncing after a three-day sell-off, while the dollar gained slightly against the Japanese yen.
Nvidia’s stock ended up 6.8%. The Nasdaq jumped more than 1%, also ending a three-day losing streak, while the S&P 500 technology and communication services sectors led gains among S&P 500 sectors.
Excitement over artificial intelligence has powered stocks like Nvidia higher and helped to lift the U.S. stock market to recent record highs, but it remains to be seen whether that will continue, or for how long.
The chipmaker had rocketed higher to briefly become the world’s biggest company last week, but tumbled around 16% from last Thursday’s peak to this Monday’s close.
“It’s another day of fairly narrow equity markets,” said Chad Oviatt, director of investment management at The Huntington National Bank in Akron, Ohio.
“The Mag 7 seem to be pushing things… and that’s been a theme all year,” he said, referring to the Magnificent 7 group of tech-related stocks, which include Nvidia. “A lot of market participants are just waiting for some additional broadening out” of the market.
Investors are also gearing up for data on the personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday, which could provide further clues on the inflation picture and when the Federal Reserve might begin cutting interest rates.
They also await snap elections in France starting at the weekend and the first U.S. Presidential debate on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 299.05 points, or 0.76%, to 39,112.16, the S&P 500 gained 21.43 points, or 0.39%, to 5,469.30 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 220.84 points, or 1.26%, to 17,717.65.
After the closing bell, shares of FedEx jumped more than 15% following the release of its results and its forecast for 2025 profit above analysts’ estimates. The stock closed down 0.1% in the regular session.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.49 points, or 0.31%, to 803.77. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.23%.
The U.S. dollar rose, bolstered in part by hawkish comments from a Fed official.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman repeated her view on Tuesday that holding the policy rate steady “for some time” will likely be enough to bring inflation under control. She also reiterated her willingness to raise borrowing costs if needed.
The yen was keeping traders alert for any signs of further intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the currency as it traded just above a two-month low of around 160 to the dollar.
It hit a record low against the euro of 171.49 on Monday as pressure on the currency mounted thanks to interest rates in Japan that remain far lower than in the United States and Europe.
Against the Japanese yen on Tuesday, the dollar strengthened 0.06% to 159.68.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, gained 0.11% at 105.63, with the euro down 0.19% at $1.0712.
In Treasuries, the yield curve inversion between the two-year and the 10-year notes deepened to more than 50 basis points for the first time this year.
It partly reversed after strong demand at a two-year auction.
Oil prices eased amid demand concerns after a slow start to the U.S. summer driving season.
Brent futures for August settled down $1 at $85.01 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures settled at $80.83, down 80 cents.
Spot gold was down 0.6% at $2,318.82 per ounce.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Harry Robertson in London and Stella Qiu in Sydney; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)
