NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stocks rose Tuesday and trimmed their losses in what had been a rocky June.
The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, though it still fell to its first losing month following two fabulous ones. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 136 points, or 0.3%, to its record, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5%.
The main reason for the past month鈥檚 weakness was a fall to Earth for stocks in the industry. After soaring to in the frenzy around AI, such stocks came because of worries that they shot too high. That鈥檚 a big deal for all investors because AI stocks have grown into some of Wall Street鈥檚 largest and most influential, pulling indexes behind them.
AI stocks were firmer Tuesday, and Nvidia was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after rising 2.6% and trimming its loss for the month. That was even though the majority of stocks within the index fell Tuesday.
Microsoft, which is investing heavily in AI, rose 1.2% to cut its loss for the month to 17.2%. Oracle, though, slipped 0.8% to widen its drop for June to 35.1%. It鈥檚 another company contending with concerns that AI may not yield enough productivity and profits to make all the big spending worth it.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 58.93 points to 7,499.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 136.46 to 52,319.20, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 393.58 to 26,213.72.
Outside of AI, the economy seems to be rumbling along, even though U.S. households are still . A report released in the morning said that U.S. employers were at the end of May than economists expected, the latest signal that the job market remains resilient.
But a second report said that confidence among U.S. consumers improved by less than economists expected. More Americans are saying it鈥檚 hard to get a job, according to a survey by the Conference Board, even with data suggesting continued hiring.
Tuesday鈥檚 relatively quiet trading came as companies closed their books for the quarter running from April through June. Investors want to see strong growth in profits to justify the big gains stocks made early in the quarter. Despite June鈥檚 drop, the S&P 500 still recorded its best quarter since six years ago, when stocks rocketed out of the crash caused by the COVID pandemic.
Concentrix tumbled 11.2% after the technology company reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that were just shy of analysts鈥� expectations.
In the oil market, prices eased after two in Qatar for talks with mediators about the implementation of . The Americans will not be having direct negotiations with Iranian diplomats while in Doha.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, erased an early, modest rise and fell 1.3% to $72.95. The hope is that an end to the war will restore full access to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil tankers to move more crude and lower its price.
Expensive oil has already sent inflation jumping around the world, which in turn has raised worries that the Federal Reserve and other central banks may have to raise interest rates. Higher rates would keep a lid on inflation, but they would also slow economic growth and hurt prices for investments.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.44% from 4.38% late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
Germany鈥檚 DAX returned 1.5%, and South Korea鈥檚 Kospi climbed 1% for two of the world鈥檚 bigger gains.
Japan鈥檚 Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% as the value of the Japanese yen dropped near its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in 40 years.
U.S. government bonds are paying much higher yields than their Japanese counterparts, and the possibility of rate hikes by the Fed is putting more pressure on the yen. Speculation is rising that Japan鈥檚 government may try to prop up the yen鈥檚 value, but Japan鈥檚 finance minister said only that the government was ready to 鈥渞espond appropriately whenever necessary.鈥�
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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
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