US stocks today: US stocks gain as healthcare stocks hit record high, oil prices fall

Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Tuesday as healthcare stocks rallied to record highs and easing oil prices helped extend a recovery from last week’s technology led selloff, according to Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.22%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.70% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.59%. Healthcare and financial stocks led gains in the S&P 500, rising 1.8% and 1%, respectively, while energy stocks lagged.

Brent crude fell 1.3% after briefly touching a near five month high, adding to the positive mood across broader markets, Reuters reported.

Healthcare stocks lead rebound

Healthcare stocks led the rebound, with S&P 500 Healthcare index rising 2.28% and hitting a record high. Eli Lilly rose 5.56% to $1,309 while United Health was up3.19% at $419.79.
The gains came a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq extended their rebound as investors returned to technology stocks following last week’s sharp selloff, which was partly driven by concerns over CoreWeave’s debt load and the cost of financing the AI buildout, Reuters said.

AI linked stocks were mixed on Tuesday. CoreWeave gained 1.6%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 0.4%.
“You’re seeing some strength in some high value stocks and the Dow, and so that’s helping to sort of lift the overall index,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, according to Reuters.”Concerns about what’s going on as far as semiconductors, that’s still there and AI related names are down, but for the most part, the rest of the market is seeing a bit of a nice rebound.”

Earnings take centre stage

Investors were also looking to this week’s corporate earnings for signs of whether companies can sustain growth amid mounting macroeconomic risks, Reuters reported.

General Motors shares fell 5.3% after its full year earnings forecast came in below analysts’ expectations. Steel Dynamics declined 1% after missing third quarter profit estimates.

On the other hand, 3M jumped 5.3% after expanding its data centre partnership with Amazon and raising its full year profit forecast. Equifax gained 9.6% after reporting third quarter profit above analysts’ estimates.

The earnings calendar remained busy, with SpaceX and Netflix due to report after Tuesday’s close, followed by Meta Platforms and Tesla on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, South Korean AI infrastructure company Elice Group tumbled nearly 30% in its market debut, falling below its IPO price.

(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)