NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is holding steadier Thursday following the worst day for big technology stocks since 2022.
The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in early trading, and the Nasdaq composite was rising 0.5%, a day after it tumbled 3.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was adding 38 points, or 0.1%, to its record, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time.
Much of the prior day’s pain centered on stocks of chip companies, hurt by possible trade tensions with China and other worries. But they stabilized as industry heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported stronger growth in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States bounced 2% higher, a day after losing 8%.
Big U.S. chip companies also steadied themselves, including Nvidia. It rose 1.9% to claw back some of its 6.6% plunge and was the strongest single force pushing the S&P 500 upward.
Big technology stocks had been screaming higher, in large part because of a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. That helped a handful of Big Tech stocks drive to towering heights, as well as criticism that they had grown too pricey.
Even after Wednesday’s drop, chip companies and technology stocks broadly remain up strongly over the last year. Nvidia is still up nearly 143% for the year so far, for example.
A mixed set of profit reports from other big U.S. companies was also helping to keep the market in flux.
D.R. Horton jumped 7.9% after the homebuilder reported stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected.
Domino’s Pizza dropped 11.6% despite topping analysts’ expectations for profit. The pizza chain suspended its forecast for how many stores will open globally. While that’s likely due to reasons beyond the company’s control, analysts said it would frustrate investors just eight months after the forecast was issued.
Chuy’s soared 47.6% after Darden Restaurants said it would buy the Tex-Mex chain in an all-cash deal valuing it at $605 million. Shares of Darden, which owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and a suite of other chains, fell 1.6%.
In the bond market, Treasury yields swung following some mixed data on the economy but remained a bit higher.
One report said more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. That could be a signal of a softening job market, though the number remains low compared with history.
A separate report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is growing much better than economists thought.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked up to 4.17% from 4.16% late Wednesday.
Wall Street is hoping for the economy to remain in a “Goldilocks” state, where it’s not so hot that it puts upward pressure on inflation but not so cold that it slides into a recession.
Such hopes have built high, and traders are widely expecting the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates in September after jacking them to the highest level in more than two decades to stifle inflation.
Lower rates would relax the pressure on both the economy and on financial markets.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes were higher after the European Central Bank held its main interest rate steady. Asian indexes were mixed.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
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