Investing.com–US stocks edged higher Tuesday, consolidating a rally in technology shares, ahead of the release of key economic data.
At 09:30 ET (14:30 GMT), the rose 100 points, or 0.2%, the index rose 23 points, or 0.4%, and the rose 65 points, or 0.3%.
Wall Street indexes were buoyed by a broader rally in tech stocks on Monday, which helped them recoup some of their losses from late-December and early-January.
Nvidia in focus
Nvidia (NASDAQ:) stock gained over 2% Tuesday, following an over 3% rally during the prior session, when the stock briefly hit a record high.
At CES 2025, a major annual tech conference in Las Vegas, CEO Jensen Huang laid out how the world’s second-most valuable firm is bringing technology that powers its lucrative data center AI chips to consumer PCs and laptops.
Nvidia gained around $2 trillion in market capitalization through 2024, as the company further cemented its position as the premiere maker of advanced AI chips.
The company also acts as a bellwether for the broader tech sector, given its prevalence in the fast-growing AI industry.
Elsewhere, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: stock fell 0.3% after the Facebook-parent said it would end its current third-party fact-checking program in the United States and instead begin moving to a ‘Community Notes’ program similar to that on social media platform X.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:) stock rose 0.4% after the software giant announced plans to spend $3 billion to expand its Azure cloud and artificial intelligence capacity in India.
Trump comments temper optimism
Beyond tech, gains in stock markets were somewhat tempered by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump denying media reports that his administration will pursue a less aggressive tariff regime than previously feared.
Trump denied a Washington Post report that his administration will only target certain sectors in imposing trade tariffs, instead of the broad tariffs promised by Trump during his campaigning.
Uncertainty over Trump’s policies had also weighed on Wall Street in the beginning of the year, given that he is widely expected to enact expansionary and protectionist policies that could underpin inflation and disrupt global trade.
Labor market data in focus
The major economic data release due later in the session is the for November, as the focus turns to the labor market and what it is saying about the strength of the US economy.
The is slated for Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s widely-watched December’s report.
The holds its next policy-setting meeting at the end of this month, and signaled a more cautious stance regarding cutting interest rates at its December meeting.
Crude bounces
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, bouncing after the previous session’s losses on optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.
By 09:30 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed 0.6% to $74.01 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.7% to $76.86 a barrel.
Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
