Wall Street indexes climb amid earnings optimism; Nvidia gains

By Caroline Valetkevitch (Reuters) -U.S. stocks were higher in afternoon trading on Tuesday as Nvidia shares gained and investors were mostly optimistic about corporate earnings ahead of key results from companies including Apple this week. Shares of Nvidia were last up 4.1%.  Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company will build seven supercomputers for the U.S. Department of Energy, and said the company has $500 billion in bookings for its AI chips. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Huang.   Microsoft stock gained 2.4% after the company reached a deal that allows OpenAI to restructure into a public benefit corporation while giving Microsoft a stake of 27% in the ChatGPT maker. Apple shares were nearly flat after the company crossed $4 trillion in market value for the first time earlier in the day. The company is due to report quarterly results on Thursday. Also scheduled to report this week are Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. Investors are anxious for details from companies on artificial intelligence spending.  "Momentum and earnings are pushing the market higher," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York, adding that there is also "enthusiasm about Trump's Asian trip."     "Earnings have been good," he said. "Of course, we're waiting for the big tech stocks."  Trump lavished praise on Japan's first female leader, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo on Tuesday. They signed a deal to bolster supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, as their nations seek to reduce China's dominance of some areas of key electronic components. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 346.20 points, or 0.73%, to 47,890.00, the S&P 500 gained 29.56 points, or 0.43%, to 6,904.72, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 225.51 points, or 0.95%, to 23,862.96. United Parcel Service forecast fourth-quarter revenue above expectations, and its shares were up 7.8%. Rival FedEx added 1.5%.     QUARTERLY EARNINGS UP  Third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have increased 10.5% from the year-ago period, up from 8.8% seen earlier this month, according to LSEG data.  The U.S. government has been shut down for nearly a month, delaying crucial economic data and forcing traders to rely on private releases and corporate announcements. But a preliminary estimate of an ADP National Employment Report showed the U.S. economy added an average of 14,250 jobs in the four weeks ending October 11.  Investors also scrutinized layoff reports from companies including Amazon, Paramount, and UPS. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce this week a cut in interest rates. Investors will be keen to get any details on the rate outlook.  Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 504 new highs and 89 new lows on the NYSE.On the Nasdaq, 2,086 stocks rose and 2,535 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.22-to-1 ratio. (Additional reporting by Johann M Cherian and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Rod Nickel)

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