U.S. equity benchmarks advanced on Tuesday, with gains led by chipmakers including Nvidia and Micron, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed early advances by the close. The Dow ended roughly flat at 53,430 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.16% to 7,665 and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.47% to 29,159.
The chip sector staged a recovery after recent weakness, with Nvidia shares climbing 1.5% to snap a seven-day losing streak. The advance came ahead of the company’s highly anticipated quarterly results due Wednesday, with analysts citing strong demand for AI-related products. Marvell Technology led Nasdaq 100 gainers with a 6% rise, followed by gains of up to 4.3% for AMD and Arm Holdings. Intel also advanced 3.6% in pre-market trading.
Sentiment received additional support from a broad retreat in oil prices, which extended losses despite U.S. threats of further economic pressure on Iran. Brent crude fell more than 2% to near $78 per barrel after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Monday evening remarks failed to outline specific measures targeting Iran’s oil exports. Analysts at Commerzbank noted that the key uncertainty remains the potential enforcement of secondary sanctions against major Iranian trading partners, particularly China.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) rose 0.4% as ABB and Sika led advancers, offsetting declines in several components. Meanwhile, Amrize AG hit a record low, and Nestlé shares were highlighted in takeover chatter. In the U.S., Dick’s Sporting Goods slumped 27% after cutting its full-year guidance, citing weaker-than-expected performance at its Foot Locker acquisition. The decline weighed on rival Nike, which fell 2.8% to rank as the Dow’s weakest performer.
Separately, SpaceX shares rose around 2% after Elon Musk announced plans to deploy Nvidia-powered AI satellites starting in the fourth quarter of 2027. The orbital computing network, expected to scale significantly by 2028, aims to provide simpler, cheaper, and more compact alternatives to traditional server racks. SpaceX has filed with the FCC for up to 1 million AI-capable satellites, with Nvidia’s Vera CPUs slated to power Grok and future AI agents.
Meta shares rose 1.3% in early U.S. trading after reports indicated the company plans to launch a consumer-facing AI agent, codenamed “Hatch,” in late August or early September. The product is based on OpenClaw, Meta’s internal AI agent framework, and follows the company’s announcement of a new AI model scheduled for October.
