Stock market today: Wall Street holds up better after the rout of technology stocks on Wednesday

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held more stable Thursday after the Worst Day for Big Tech Companies stocks since 2022.

The S&P 500 index climbed 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%, a day after falling 3.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 159 points, or 0.4%, to its record high, as of 10:25 a.m. ET.

Chipmaker stocks, hurt by potential trade tensions with China and other concerns, have been the target of much of the pain in recent days. But they have stabilized as the industry giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported stronger profit growth in the latest quarter than analysts expected.

TSMC shares, traded in the United States, rose 0.7% a day after losing 8%.

Major U.S. chip companies have also stabilized, including NvidiaIt rose 1.7%, recovering some of its 6.6% drop, and was the most powerful force pushing the S&P 500 higher.

Big tech stocks have soared, largely because of a frenzy around artificial intelligence technology. This helped a a handful of Big Tech stocks Chip and tech stocks have hit record highs, and critics have made them overpriced. Even after Wednesday’s declines, chip companies and tech stocks remain much higher overall for the year so far. Nvidia is still up 142%, for example.

A broad shift began on Wall Street last week, away from the handful of big tech stocks that had been supporting the market as many stocks struggled under the weight of high interest rates. Instead, investors turned to less-loved sectors of the market. The momentum shifted after an encouraging report last week on inflation raised expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin lowering interest rates in September.

Smaller company stocks were particularly strong, with the Russell 2000 index climbing 0.8% on Thursday. It had gained at least 1% in five of the previous six days.

After lagging far behind the big names in the S&P 500, the small-cap Russell 2000 has jumped more than 10% this month, more than triple the gain of its larger rivals.

Along with hopes of upcoming cuts to the Fed's main interest rate, which is at its highest level in more than two decades, expectations of stronger U.S. corporate profit growth have also helped boost stocks.

DR Horton jumped 12% after the homebuilder reported earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations for the spring. Other homebuilders also posted some of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, including a 5.7% rise for Lennar and a 5.6% rise for PulteGroup.

United Airlines rose 2.2% after swinging between gains and losses earlier following its Better-than-expected earnings reportThe airline said conditions could be difficult for the industry given the abundance of flights available until mid-August.

Dominos Pizza has lost 10.8% of its value despite reporting profits that beat analysts' expectations. The pizza chain has temporarily suspended its forecast for the number of stores it will open worldwide in the long term. While this is likely due to reasons beyond the company's control, analysts say it could frustrate investors.

Chuys Shares of Darden Restaurants jumped 47.8% 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 string of other chains, fell 1.6%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields fluctuated on mixed economic data, but remained close to their previous day's level.

A report stated More and more workers have applied for unemployment benefits Last week, economists estimated that the number of workers on furlough had exceeded expectations. This could be a sign of a slowdown in the labor market, although the figure remains low by historical standards.

A separate report says manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region is growing much faster than economists expected.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes held steady at 4.16%, where it stood late Wednesday.

Wall Street is hoping the economy will remain in an ideal state, where it is not so hot that it puts upward pressure on inflation, but not so cold that it slides into a recession.

On foreign stock markets, European indices were up after the The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate unchanged. Asian indices were mixed.

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AP Business reporters Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.