US stocks end higher on blowout Netflix results, strong AI shares. S&P 500 notches record.
Strong corporate earnings and technology shares boosted Wall Street, with the broad S&P 500 index touching a record high.
Netflix shares rallied to a record high after the streaming giant reported a blowout quarter. Oracle, Nvidia and Microsoft and other artificial intelligence-linked stocks surged after the leaders of SoftBank, Oracle and OpenAI announced, with President Donald Trump, a Stargate AI venture .
"Trump’s ringing endorsement of Stargate is another shot in the arm for AI in the early days of his second presidency, and supports our long-standing view that the S&P 500 will thrive in 2025 amid growing investment in...this transformative technology," said John Higgins, chief market economist at Capital Economics.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.61%, or 37.12 points, at 6,086.36, off its new all-time high of 6,100.81 hit during the day. The blue-chip Dow rose 0.3%, or 130.92 points, at 44,156.73, and tech-laden Nasdaq gained 1.28%, or 252.56 points, to rise to 20,009.34. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 4.605%.
Corporate news
A string of positive company reports provided optimism for the stock market. News included:
On the downside, Johnson & Johnson fell about 2% after the drugmaker cited hurdles for this year, including Medicare changes and a stronger U.S. dollar that will hurt overseas sales. It reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on higher sales of cancer drugs and some medical devices but its full-year sales forecast fell short of expectations.
Halliburton's shares slipped 3.5% after the oil giant warned of softer North America activity this year and posted weak quarterly revenue.
What about Trump's tariffs?
Trump's seen as taking a softer tone on tariffs, which has allowed investors to put those worries on the backburner to focus on company news, analysts said.
Before Monday's inauguration , people feared large, blanket tariffs across the board would be inflationary and slow the economy. But those didn't materialize. Instead, "President Trump instructed the government to study multiple avenues and options," Morgan Stanley economists wrote in a note on Tuesday.
Trump's comments late Tuesday on a potential 10% tariff on Chinese imports beginning Feb. 1 also did little to move markets. A 10% tariff is less than ones Trump floated earlier .
"The clear pattern that has emerged in the past couple of weeks is that President Trump publicly takes a hard stance and then...dials it back in the financial media," said Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.
Bitcoin volatility
Bitcoin continued to swing between losses and gains, last down 1.95% to $104,096.50.
But some analysts were generally bullish.
"We expect Bitcoin’s price to remain elevated due to a more favorable regulatory and political environment in the U.S., increased institutional adoption, and a looser Fed monetary policy," said Marion Laboure, Deutsche Bank analyst.
On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission said acting Chair Mark Uyeda has launched a “ crypto task force ” aimed at “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
(This story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stocks gain on Netflix, AI. Tariff fears wilt. S&P 500 hits record.