S&P 500, Nasdaq end up with Nvidia; Walmart hits record after forecast

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Nasdaq rose more than 1% and S&P 500 also ended higher on Tuesday, led by a jump in technology shares as investors eagerly awaited results this week from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), while Walmart (NYSE:WMT) shares climbed after the retailer raised its annual forecasts.

The Dow finished lower.

All three major indexes started the day lower, with the benchmark index dropping as much as about 0.6% after Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks earlier in the day, and Moscow said Ukraine had struck deep inside Russia with U.S.-made long-range missiles.

Stocks pared losses as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will do everything possible to prevent a nuclear war.

Chipmaker Nvidia , which is due to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, climbed 4.9% to $147.01 and was the biggest boost for all three major indexes. Technology climbed 1.2% and led gains among S&P 500 sectors.

Strategists said expectations are high for Nvidia, which has driven the artificial intelligence-related rally in stocks.

Other megacap stocks also rose, including Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN).

“The biggest takeaway today is caution around what’s going on in Ukraine. Largely investors are hiding out in some of the megacap names, which is a little bit surprising ahead of Nvidia earnings, but they are highly liquid,” said Timothy Chubb (NYSE:CB), chief investment officer at Girard, a Univest Wealth Division.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 120.66 points, or 0.28%, to 43,268.94. The S&P 500 gained 23.36 points, or 0.40%, at 5,916.98 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 195.66 points, or 1.04%, to 18,987.47.

Walmart shares rose 3% to $86.60 and hit a record closing high after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit forecasts for the third consecutive time.

“Walmart came in and delivered optimistic guidance,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“One of the components that was important for the market was that it said more of their customers are going in and purchasing items in the higher margin categories, which is something that has been watched.”

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) jumped 31.2% after the artificial intelligence server maker named BDO USA as its auditor and said it has submitted a plan to the Nasdaq to avoid delisting.

Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose 2.9% to $871.32, hitting a record high for a second straight day, after the streaming media company said 108 million people watched a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Adding to optimism, Goldman Sachs strategists forecast the S&P 500 would reach 6,500 by the end of 2025.

Investors are digesting picks for President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump said on Tuesday he had chosen celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He also said he will nominate Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to serve as commerce secretary.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 172 new highs and 97 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,459 stocks rose and 1,841 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.34-to-1 ratio.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 13.94 billion shares, compared with the 14.24 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.