STORY: Tech stocks powered the Nasdaq to a record high on Monday ahead of Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings. But gains weren't seen across the board.
The Dow shed about half a percent, the S&P 500 ticked up nearly one-tenth of a percent and the Nasdaq gained more than six-tenths.
The S&P's technology index, up more than 1%, outperformed the S&P's other major sectors, boosted by chipmakers such as Nvidia, which added nearly 2.5%.
Investors will look for evidence in Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday that the AI chip leader can maintain its explosive growth and stay ahead of rivals.
Ross Mayfield is investment strategy analyst at Baird.
"It's obviously the most important stock in the world right now I think given the importance of the AI narrative to the rally over the last 12 to 18 months. So should it hold so much import? You could make the argument it should. I mean, it's the theme of the next 5, 10, fifty years is AI and they're kind of the fuel to that fire."
Also on Wednesday: minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting are scheduled to be released.
A solid earnings season and signs inflation may be starting to cool again have reignited hopes for Fed rate cuts this year, pushing Wall Street's indexes to record levels.
The recent rally has started to raise concerns about stock valuations, with the S&P trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20.8, well above its historic average of 15.9, according to LSEG data.
But the Dow on Monday was weighed down by a 4.5% drop in JPMorgan shares, after CEO Jamie Dimon said he was "cautiously pessimistic" about bank's net interest income.
In other company news, shares of Johnson Controls International rose more than 2% following a report activist investor Elliott Investment Management built a position worth over $1 billion in the building solutions provider.
And Norwegian Cruise Line shares surged more than 7.5% after lifting its annual profit forecast.
