By Lisa Pauline Mattackal
(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes advanced on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising to a record high, as investors assessed corporate earnings as well as crucial data showing the economy maintained a steady pace of growth in the third quarter.
Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:), the first of the five “Magnificent Seven” megacap stocks due to report results this week, soared 5.4% after the company beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud business and YouTube ad sales.
However, chip stocks tumbled, weighed by dour forecasts from Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:) and Qorvo (NASDAQ:), which lost 9.6% and 27%, respectively.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:) was down 1%, while an index of chip stocks fell 2.8%.
“The overall trend of AI is intact, but people are coming to the realization that the hardware piece is going to be a lot harder to make money in, so they’re taking some of the gains and using these imperfect earnings as an excuse to reposition things into the software space,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group.
“Alphabet is going to absolutely dominate in this environment, and it’s showing.”
In economic data, the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized rate, according to the Commerce Department’s advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, slightly below economists’ forecast of 3.0% growth.
A separate report showed U.S. private payrolls growth surged by a higher-than-expected 233,000 jobs in October.
“The GDP and ADP reports are consistent with the Fed making another interest-rate cut at their post-election decision next week, but a smaller quarter-percentage-point one,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica (NYSE:) Bank.
The neck-and-neck race between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was also at the top of investors’ minds ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Traders anticipate a 25-basis-point rate cut in the Federal Reserve’s November and December meetings.
Megacaps Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) rose 1.1% each, with both companies scheduled to report after the bell.
Given the significant role they played in Wall Street’s rally this year, megacaps will be the most closely watched in an earnings-packed week. Their results are expected to provide insight into whether heavy AI investment is translating into better company performances.
Visa (NYSE:) leapt 3.9% to a record high, lifting the Dow, after its fourth-quarter profit beat estimates.
The rose 213.91 points, or 0.51%, to 42,446.96, the gained 16.74 points, or 0.29%, to 5,849.66 and the gained 44.68 points, or 0.24%, to 18,756.66.
The Information Technology sector was the biggest sectoral decliner, while Alphabet’s gains lifted Communication Services to an all-time high.
Meanwhile, shares of Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:) plunged 32.8% after Ernst & Young resigned as the company’s accountant.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:) lost 6.6% after missing sales estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.9-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 110 new highs and 73 new lows.