S&P 500 climbs as Nvidia rally pushes tech higher

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The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, or 29 points, Nasdaq rose 0.7%.

The recent dip in tech attracted dip buyers, particularly in semiconductor stocks, with Nvidia soaring more than 6% after Morgan Stanley said the recent dip in the chipmaker was a buying opportunity.

The vote of confidence from Morgan Stanley comes even as concerns linger about bloated inventory and waning demand for chips amid an economic stumble in China.

But rising demand for AI is likely to boost data center spending, Morgan Stanley adds, bolstering Nvidia’s growth.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), meanwhile, were also in demand following their recent weakness.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.204%, its highest level since Nov. 22, but those gains were short-lived as investors looked ahead to the latest consumer data due Tuesday.

Retail sales data for July is expected to show that the consumer remains resilient. Fresh signs of a strong U.S. consumer, which makes up about 70% of economic of growth, would further dent bets that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to resume rate hikes later this year.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) jumped more than 30% after the rejecting a more than $7 billion buyout from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF). The steel maker detailed plans to review strategic options.

PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL), meanwhile, tapped Intuit’s Alex Chriss as its new chief executive to replace Dan Schulman.

“We believe this an important leadership change, fitting the company’s focus on repositioning both sides of its merchant and consumer facing platforms,” Wedbush said in a note.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) said it would cut prices of its Model Y electric vehicles in China, raising fresh fears about pressure on margins. Its shares fell more than 2%.

The move raised fears of price war in the EV market, pressuring other EV makers including Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA).

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA), meanwhile, said it would temporarily pause sales of its EVs after several battery fires. The company recalled about 209 of its trucks following a probe that found a coolant battery leak was the likely cause of a fire its Phoenix headquarters in June.