The S&P 500 notched another intra-day record, as semiconductors continued to hog the limelight, with$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$bumping off$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$as the world's most valuable company.
Semiconductor stocks tracked by moomoo advanced 3.5% the biggest gainer among sectors. Nvidia, which dominates the market for chips that power artificial intelligence, saw its shares climbed 3.8% to $136.03 at 2:20 p.m. in New York, taking its market capital to $3.35 trillion.
Nvidia and the rest of the semiconductor stocks are helping keep the S&P 500 in positive territory at a time when signs of weakening consumer sentiment are raising concerns over the sustainable of corporate profit growth. Federal Reserve officials who delivered remarks Tuesday also didn't offer much relief.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.1% in May, weighed down by declines in furniture, gasoline, building materials and food services and drinking places, data from the Department of Commerce showed. That missed estimates that called for a 0.2% increase.
Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler said the weak sales data "may be another signal that the long-expected deceleration in consumer spending may finally be upon us." Still, she gave no clues as to when she would vote for a reduction in interest rates or whether she would support one or two cuts, MarketWatch reported.
Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Susan Collins cautioned against overreacting to a month or two of promising data, stressing that the right approach to monetary policy "continues to require patience." She said it may take longer than expected to bring inflation down to policy makers' 2% target.
Crude oil futures rose to the highest in seven weeks ahead of the summer driving season that typically drives demand higher. Optimism that the leadership of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+ won't be increasing production is also helping support prices, MarketWatch reported.
Saul d Solache : good morning