US stocks climbed sharply on Tuesday against an improving macroeconomic backdrop, as a slate of key earnings is set to provide fresh insight into the AI trade. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 650 points to new record highs, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.4%.
Energy prices eased, with fuel and natural gas declining after Qatar signaled progress toward a short-term agreement between the US and Iran. That development helped temper inflation concerns and supported a continued pullback in benchmark Treasury yields.
Palantir surged more than 15% after the company raised its guidance, supported by strong momentum in commercial sales. Industrial bellwether Caterpillar rallied nearly 10% after reporting earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.
Major AI “hyperscalers” were mixed following a strong rally in the previous session, which had extended a renewed stretch of outperformance for AI infrastructure names and reversed the pattern seen in late June. AMD and SpaceX traded higher ahead of their earnings reports after the close. AMD is expected to provide further detail on AI companies’ compute-capacity demand, while SpaceX remains about 40% below its all-time high.
