The S&P 500 added 0.4%, but only after jumping toward one of its biggest gains since the summer, erasing it all and then climbing back.
The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7% after earlier pinballing between a drop of 0.4% and a rally of 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged the market and edged down by 17 points, or less than 0.1%.
The erratic trading followed Tuesday’s roller coaster, where the Dow careened between a loss of 615 points and a jump of 455. The dizzying moves go back to the end of last week, when President
Technology stocks helped lead the way Wednesday following a better-than-expected profit report from ASML, a major supplier to the semiconductor industry. It expects its revenue for 2025 to be 15% above last year’s, while next year’s should be at least as high as this year’s.
“On the market side, we have seen continued positive momentum around investments in AI,” CEO
ASML’s stock climbed 3.1% in
Several big banks also drove the market higher.
They helped offset a 3.9% drop for PNC Financial. It reported a stronger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter, but it also gave a forecast for upcoming earnings that some analysts said was below expectations.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 26.75 points to 6,671.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17.15 to 46,253.31, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 148.38 to 22,670.08.
Companies are under pressure to deliver strong profits after their stock prices broadly surged 35% from a low in April. To justify those gains, which critics say made their stock prices too expensive, companies will need to show they’re making much more in profit and will continue to do so.
Corporate profit reports are also under more scrutiny than usual as investors hunt for clues about the health of the
The lack of such reports is making the job more difficult for the
Comments from the Fed’s chair,
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year
One big winner because of expectations for coming cuts to rates has been gold, and its price rose 0.9% to top
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.7%, and France’s CAC 40 rose 2% for two of the world’s bigger moves.
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AP Business Writers
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