US stocks were mixed for a second straight session on Tuesday as investors weighed expanding AI infrastructure efforts in China against a fresh round of major corporate earnings. The S&P 500 was little changed and hovered near its record high, with a 0.6% advance in the Dow offset by a 0.6% decline in the Nasdaq 100.
Chipmakers extended the previous session’s selloff after signs that China’s CXMT has made headway on a new memory architecture, potentially intensifying competition for Korean and US rivals. Adding to the cautious tone, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan cautioned that AI lab investments may be overdone and might not generate adequate returns. Shares of Micron, Marvell, and SanDisk each fell more than 4%.
In contrast, financials were a source of strength. Goldman Sachs gained 2.5% after posting robust equity trading results. JPMorgan rose 1.5% as an upgraded outlook for net interest income offset weaker fixed-income trading performance and higher expenses last quarter. Citigroup finished roughly flat despite solid trading revenues, while Wells Fargo slipped following its earnings release.
Outside the banking sector, UnitedHealth Group rose 2% after lifting its profit guidance. Johnson & Johnson, however, dropped 4% on softer-than-expected sales.
