US stocks advanced on Tuesday after softer inflation data effectively closed the door on a Federal Reserve rate hike this month. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose as much as 0.5%, while the Dow fluctuated around the flatline. Both headline and core inflation eased, helping offset the impact of another rally in energy prices following continued US–Iran strikes.
Chipmakers rebounded from Monday’s selloff, with Micron and SanDisk each gaining 4%, in line with broader strength among major memory producers, while Nvidia added 1%. Financials also recovered from early weakness: JPMorgan climbed 3% after reporting record quarterly profits, and Bank of America and Citigroup each rose more than 2% following their earnings releases. In capital markets, Goldman Sachs jumped more than 7% after beating analysts’ estimates.
In contrast, IBM slumped 25% after missing expectations and warning of weaker client spending, as many customers shifted their budgets this quarter toward chips and memory instead.
