US close: Stocks higher as chip stocks rally, traders eye Fed signals

(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher on Tuesday as investors digested another batch of corporate earnings and eyed the begining of the Federal Reserve's twoday policy meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.03% at 52,377.57, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.60% to 7,722.60 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.18% firmer at 26,477.81.

The Dow closed 15.99 points lower on Tuesday, modestly extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Tech stocks were in focus on Tuesday as Broadcom climbed 4% after a group of banks - including Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley - alongside Blackstone agreed $63bn in financing for Anthropic's purchase of Broadcom technology. Other chip stocks also moved higher as a result, with Micron up more than 2% and AMD advancing over 5%.

In Tuesday's earnings news, Boeing posted a narrower thirdquarter loss, with net losses reduced to $116m from $5.34bn a year earlier, while revenues rose 4% to $24.2bn, helped by stronger defence and services activity, CocaCola lifted fullyear guidance for the third straight quarter after topping expectations, now seeing earnings per share growth of at least 11% and organic revenues up 5% or more after Q3 adjusted EPS came in at $0.91 against $0.88 forecast and revenues rose to $13.4bn, UPS raised its annual revenue and profit outlook after beating quarterly estimates, supported by highermargin international air shipments and reduced lowermargin Amazon volumes, and said it remained on track for $3bn in cost savings this year.

After the close, Visa reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $3.48 a share, topping expectations and up from $2.98 a year earlier, while Seagate delivered a stronger beat with adjusted earnings of $7.68 a share versus $7.44 forecast and well above last year's $2.61. Robinhood, on the other hand, posted a weakerthanexpected quarter as softer interest income and higher costs weighed on results, with net income falling 14% to $476m and diluted EPS down 16% to $0.51, against analyst estimates for $0.57.

On the macro front, US durable goods orders rose 1.8% in September, according to the Census Bureau, picking up from a modestly revised 0.1% gain in August and beating forecasts for a smaller increase. The headline was driven by a 4.6% rebound in transportation equipment, helped by a 28.4% jump in civilian aircraft bookings. Orders also improved across machinery, computers and electronics, primary metals and fabricated metal products. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were up 0.5%, while nondefence orders climbed 2.2%. Core capital goods rose 0.5% after a stronger 1.6% gain in the prior month.

Elsewhere, US home prices rose 2.1% yearonyear in August, up from 1.9% in July, according to S&P/CaseShiller's home price index, although values continued to fall in real terms for a 15th straight month as inflation ran at 3.4%. Chicago remained the strongest market with a 6.7% annual gain, while Seattle saw prices drop 2%, leaving a near ninepoint gap between the two metros.

On another note, US consumer confidence improved more than expected in October, with the Conference Board's headline index rising to 91.7 from a revised 84.2 in September. The present situation gauge climbed to 120.4, while expectations recovered to 72.6. The Board said the rebound reflected easing petrol prices, though confidence remained on a longterm downward trend.

Still on data, the Richmond Fed's Fifth District manufacturing index held at 2 in October, its weakest level since February and below forecasts for a move back to zero. New orders slipped further to 8, employment eased to 3, and current business conditions weakened to 8, though shipments improved to flat. Firms were more upbeat about future orders and shipments, while expecting price pressures to moderate over

Moving on, US singlefamily house prices rose 0.3% in August after a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in July, according to the FHFA, leaving annual growth at 2.4%. Higher mortgage rates and rising prices continued to weigh on affordability, with the average 30year rate up more than 140 basis points since late February. Monthly gains were recorded in five of nine census regions, led by a 2.1% rise in East South Central, while New England fell 0.8%. All regions posted annual increases, with East North Central up 4.4%.

Finally, the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index improved in October, rising to 13.4 from 9.8 in September and signalling firmer business conditions across the sector. The company outlook index climbed seven points to 16.1, while outlook uncertainty eased slightly, slipping to 7.9.

Also of note, the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, and, while the central bank was widely expected to keep rates unchanged, market particiapnts will still be looking for clues as to whether or not another rate hike will take place before the end of the year.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $93.74 6.58%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $713.31 3.06%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $111.38 2.66%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $911.77 2.07%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.93 1.93%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $531.33 1.25%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $268.73 0.91%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $141.82 0.86%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $347.10 0.78%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $447.95 0.71%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Boeing Co. (BA) $168.18 -10.69%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $240.89 -2.71%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $91.18 -1.64%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $228.23 -1.63%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $250.25 -1.26%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $37.56 -0.92%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $397.03 -0.78%

3M Co. (MMM) $171.58 -0.70%

American Express Co. (AXP) $312.91 -0.68%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $33.78 -0.62%

S&P 500 - Risers

Pentair plc (PNR) $62.29 12.80%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $474.42 9.08%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $380.88 8.60%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $343.08 7.62%

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $425.35 7.01%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $308.91 6.96%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $80.17 6.61%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $93.74 6.58%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $560.26 6.46%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $99.59 6.10%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Xylem Inc (XYL) $92.86 -14.21%

Boeing Co. (BA) $168.18 -10.69%

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $387.34 -9.24%

HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $114.21 -8.81%

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

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $435.98 -7.36%

Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $268.53 -7.03%

Robert Half Inc. (RHI) $41.96 -6.71%

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $109.26 -6.66%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $66.22 -6.56%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $474.42 9.08%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $380.88 8.60%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $343.08 7.62%

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $425.35 7.01%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $308.91 6.96%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $80.17 6.61%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $93.74 6.58%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $342.33 4.76%

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,680.51 4.55%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $667.85 4.27%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

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

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $109.26 -6.66%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $66.22 -6.56%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $248.36 -5.39%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $328.45 -4.67%

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $278.08 -4.54%

Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $214.80 -4.29%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $187.73 -4.02%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $62.52 -4.00%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $293.11 -3.94%