Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors digested AI chipmaker Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) earnings ahead of a holiday trading break for Thanksgiving on Thursday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained around 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.5% or about 185 points.
Nvidia crushed Wall Street expectations in its much-anticipated quarterly earnings, though the response was somewhat muted as the company noted US curbs on chip exports to China would weigh on results. The stock slipped more than 2% in afternoon trading.
In commodities, oil prices sank more than 4% as the group of oil-producing countries known as OPEC+ delayed a meeting that was scheduled to discuss output. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures eventually recovered though, slipping about 1% to just below $77 per barrel.
AI drama kept its grip on the market when, in a stunning reversal, OpenAI said Sam Altman will return as its CEO just days after he was ousted. The ChatGPT maker is also bringing in new board members, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, as it tries to quell a staff mutiny.
The decision is seen as a significant win for key OpenAI backer Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which campaigned to reverse Altman’s firing. The tech giant’s stock ticked more than 1% higher after the move.
In individual stocks, shares of Deere (DE) fell about 3% in the wake of a downbeat profit forecast from the farm equipment giant. Its warning that high borrowing costs would pinch demand echoed a common theme in retailers’ results.
