Wall Street Today: DJIA, S&P 500, Nasdaq Comp Rise as SK Hynix's 27% Gain Offsets IBM's 25% Loss

The Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 and Dow-30 all rose Tuesday as a 25%+ gain for tech darling SK Hynix combined with better-than-expected inflation data and well-received bank earnings to outweigh a big drop for Dow component IBM.

The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ gained 233.83 points (0.9%) to a 26,107.01 close, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ added 28.25 ticks (0.4%) to 7,543.59 and the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ inched up 9.63 points (0.02%) to 52,508.27.

Macro

The key indexes rose as a 27.3% gain for South Korean semiconductor giant $SK hynix (SKHY.US)$ in its third trading session since listing on the Nasdaq boosted investor sentiment.

SK Hynix's big increase helped push multiple other tech stocks higher.

Major percentage gainers included $Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI.US)$ (up 12.1%), $Dell Technologies (DELL.US)$ (7.1% stronger), $Lumentum (LITE.US)$ (6.1% higher), $SanDisk (SNDK.US)$ (5% better), $Micron Technology (MU.US)$ (ahead 4.9%) and $Intel (INTC.US)$ (which added 4.5%).

"Magnificent Seven" stock $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ also rose 4.1% after Reuters reported that U.S. regulators have approved the sale of some advanced AI chips to several Chinese firms.

Such gains offset a 25.2% loss by $IBM Corp (IBM.US)$ after Big Blue warned that its Q2 results will come in worse than analysts had expected.

The drop exceeded the previous 23.7% worst-ever one day loss that IBM suffered in the October 1987 "Black Monday" crash.

Markets also got a boost Tuesday from well-received earnings from several big U.S. banks that released results before the bell in a kickoff to quarterly earnings season.

$Goldman Sachs (GS.US)$ led the way higher, rising 9% to $1,140 and earlier hit an all-time intraday high on well-regarded numbers. $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$ (up 2.5%) and $Bank of America (BAC.US)$ (1.9% firmer) also set new intraday record highs following release of their results.

Adding to Tuesday's positive tone, Wall Street got some fresh signs that U.S. inflation could be moving closer to the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

First, the Consumer Price Index showed inflation rising at a 3.5% annual rate in June – below the 3.8% that economists had expected.

Second, new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh – who many initially saw as an inflation "dove" – testified before Congress that he has "no tolerance" for high inflation.

Lastly, $Crude Oil Futures (OCT6) (CLmain.US)$ only rose 2.2% to $79.85 a barrel at last check on the New York Mercantile Exchange despite ongoing U.S.-Iran hostilities in the key Strait of Hormuz.

Stocks historically perform better in low-inflation environments that keep interest rates on rival bonds and money-market accounts subdued.

Elsewhere in markets, cryptocurrencies rose in tandem with tech stocks' risk-on move.

$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ added 3.8% to $64,405.97 as of about 4:30 p.m. New York time, while $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ gained 6.1% to $1,875.86, $Solana (SOL.CC)$improved by 2.7% to $76.96 and $Ripple (XRP.CC)$ rose 4.3% to $1.11.

Moo-vers

The "Magnificent Seven" stocks took their cue from the broader market and ended Tuesday mostly higher.

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ led Mag-7 winners with its aforementioned 4.1% gain, while $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ added 2%, $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ rose 0.7%, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ improved by 0.4% and $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ tacked on 0.1%.

Only $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ (down 1.6%) and $Apple (AAPL.US)$ (off 0.8%) ended the session lower.

Beyond the Mag-7, Tuesday's significant percentage decliners included:

-- $NEBIUS (NBIS.US)$, down 7.8%. The AI-tech firm continued to pull back from a June 22 all-time high that the stock hit after rising some 525% over 12 months. Other Big Techs that failed to participate in Tuesday's rally for the sector included $ServiceNow (NOW.US)$ (down 5.8% in apparent sympathy with frequent business partner IBM), $CoreWeave (CRWV.US)$ (down 4.1%), $Oracle (ORCL.US)$ (off 2.7%) and $SpaceX (SPCX.US)$ (which lost 2.2%).

-- $Intuitive Surgical (ISRG.US)$, 6.8% weaker. The robotic-surgery-device firm hit a 26-month low after hospital operator $HCA Healthcare (HCA.US)$ released Q2 guidance that noted a decline in surgeries.

-- $Arm Holdings (ARM.US)$, 6% lower. The CPU-tech firm sank after HSBC downgraded it to a "Hold" from a previous "Buy" and cut Arm's price target to $205 from an earlier $315.

Conversely, Tuesday's noteworthy percentage winners included:

-- Select cryptocurrency-related stocks, which rose in part on cryptos' Tuesday gains. Winners included $Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR.US)$ (up 11.5%), $Strategy (MSTR.US)$ (6% better), $Robinhood (HOOD.US)$ (3.3% firmer), $Coinbase (COIN.US)$ (which added 2.6%) and$Circle (CRCL.US)$ (ahead 0.4%).

-- $Rocket Lab (RKLB.US)$, up 2.7%. The space-launch firm rose after it successfully completed a hot-fire test on its Archimedes Vacuum engine on Monday.

Disclaimer: This presentation is for informational and educational use only and is not a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy. Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be directly invested in. Past performance is no indication of future results. Investing involves risk and the potential to lose principal. Investment information provided in this content is general in nature, strictly for illustrative purposes, and may not be appropriate for all investors. It is provided without respect to individual investors' financial sophistication, financial situation, investment objectives, investing time horizon, or risk tolerance. You should consider the appropriateness of this information regarding your relevant personal circumstances before making any investment decisions. Past investment performance does not indicate or guarantee future success. Returns will vary, and all investments carry risks, including loss of principal.

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