US close: Stocks eke out new records, though upside limited

(Sharecast News) - US stocks inched towards new record highs on Tuesday, as sentiment was again lifted by ongoing excitement surrounding the AI trade, though upside was limited as investors watched developments in the Middle East and looked ahead to Friday's jobs report.

The Dow finished 0.45% higher at a new closing peak, helped by solid gains from heavyweight constituents Cisco, Caterpillar, Apple, IBM and Goldman Sachs.

Gains on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were more subdued, however, with the indices rising just 0.13% and 0.03% respectively - albeit still notching record closing highs.

"Apart from monitoring the situation in the Middle East, investors will closely watch Friday's US non-farm payrolls report for fresh clues on the health of the labour market and broader economy, with the results likely to influence expectations for the Federal Reserve's next policy moves," said Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG.

Oil prices were adding to recent gains despite Israel saying it had halted strikes on Lebanon on Tuesday. Brent crude finished up 1.1% at $96.00 a barrel, following a 4.2% gain on Monday, after reports that Iran has suspended peace talks with the US until Israel ends its operations in Lebanon. WTI gained 1.5% following a 5.5% jump previously.

On Monday, US president Donald Trump told CNBC that he didn't care if the talks with Iran were over, adding that he thought the discussions had "started to get very boring".

However, Trump also told ABC News that he thought there could be an agreement with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz "over the next week."

"Looking good, looking good," he reportedly told ABC News' chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl in a telephone conversation on Monday. "There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly, as you probably noticed earlier," Trump said.

AI frenzy continues

Nvidia fell into the red after a big surge the previous day following a new product announcement. Nvidia unveiled a new superchip jointly developed with Microsoft that promises to "reinvent Windows PCs for the era of personal AI agents", equipping PCs with AI capabilities locally, rather than relying on cloud computing. The stock has risen more than third over the past two months alone.

The AI mania continued on Tuesday after Anthropic confirmed plans to debut on the New York Stock Exchange, in what is expected to be one of the biggest-ever initial public offerings. In a brief update posted late on Monday, the American AI specialist, known for its Claude chatbot, said it had confidentially submitted draft paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Booming AI demand also drove a surge in US-listed shares of semiconductor group STMicroelectronics on Tuesday, after the European chip contract manufacturer raised revenue guidance for its data centres business. Data centre revenues are now tipped to be around $1bn in 2026, compared with the previous target of "nicely above $500m", while 2027 revenues could double, the company said.

Another big mover was Marvell Technology, which rocketed nearly 40% after Nvidia's chief executive said it was set to become the "next trillion-dollar company". Speaking on stage with Marvell chief executive Matthey Murphy at the Computex conference in Taipei on Monday, Jensen Huang said: "Useful AI has arrived. It's the reason your demand is going through the roof."

In other equity news, Victoria's Secret & Co soared nearly 50% after boosting its full-year guidance on Tuesday, after first-quarter sales at the American lingerie retailer comfortably beat expectations.

In contrast, shares in Dollar General fell despite the US discount retailer raising its full-year profit outlook following stronger first-quarter earnings, lifted by higher sales and improved margins.

Meanwhile, Abivax shares plunged by over a third after the French pharma company reported adverse side effects from a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental bowel-disease drug, obefazimod.

Lastly, in economic data, US job openings jumped to their highest in nearly two years in April, according to the closely watched JOLTS survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings rose by 731,000 to 7.62m in April, surprising economists who had pencilled in a broadly flat reading from March's 6.89m. This was the highest since May 2024, as openings in the professional and business services sectors surged.

Dow Jones - Risers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $128.00 6.86%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $909.81 5.14%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $329.23 2.75%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $315.20 1.76%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $1,064.58 1.53%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $300.96 1.48%

3M Co. (MMM) $152.90 1.31%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $291.86 1.01%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $187.55 0.93%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $115.65 0.42%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $441.31 -4.82%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $43.73 -4.79%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $200.84 -4.18%

Boeing Co. (BA) $217.70 -2.94%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $107.93 -2.30%

Visa Inc. (V) $317.32 -1.69%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $101.41 -1.40%

American Express Co. (AXP) $310.97 -0.82%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $328.17 -0.60%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $377.92 -0.51%

S&P 500 - Risers

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $56.15 19.47%

Corning Inc. (GLW) $200.40 13.41%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $489.93 9.19%

Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $121.96 8.89%

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) $52.74 8.45%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $416.39 7.85%

Aptiv PLC (APTV) $73.85 7.65%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $508.35 7.30%

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $71.72 6.98%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $128.00 6.86%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $58.56 -8.96%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $322.14 -7.41%

CME Group Inc. (CME) $250.53 -7.33%

HP Inc (HPQ) $27.29 -6.99%

Copart Inc. (CPRT) $30.86 -5.86%

Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $87.91 -5.28%

Accenture Plc (ACN) $186.22 -5.27%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $109.39 -5.04%

Gartner Inc. (IT) $170.62 -4.99%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $489.93 9.19%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $416.39 7.85%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $508.35 7.30%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $128.00 6.86%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $334.41 6.57%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $2,045.20 6.16%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $481.58 6.09%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,705.26 5.51%

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $30.15 5.29%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $308.12 5.09%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $322.14 -7.41%

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $53.32 -5.67%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $109.39 -5.04%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $441.31 -4.82%

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $402.30 -4.24%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $148.88 -3.95%

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $597.63 -3.81%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $92.24 -3.61%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $83.33 -3.56%