Stock market today: Live updates

Stocks were higher Thursday after big banks’ better-than-expected earnings and strong revenue forecasts from big technology firms shifted investors’ focus from a spate of recent escalations in the U.S.-China trade war.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 110 points, or 0.3%.

Several Big Tech stocks buoyed the market. Nvidia shares were up 1.2%, while Broadcom’s stock rose 2% after Taiwan Semiconductor, which produces chips for Nvidia, raised its 2025 revenue guidance to mid-30% growth from roughly 30% and reiterated its plan to commit up to $42 billion to capital expenditures by the end of this year. Taiwan Semiconductor also reported a nearly 40% surge in third-quarter profit.

Salesforce’s shares jumped 6%, marking the best performance among Dow members in early trading, after the software company gave better-than-expected long-term targets seeing revenue of more than $60 billion in 2030. Memory chip maker Micron added to the tech gains, jumping 3.5% after getting a bullish call from UBS.

Wall Street is coming off a mixed session. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended Wednesday’s session in the green as investors were encouraged by strong earnings from major banks. The Dow, however, fell slightly.

LPL chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist is worried the stock market is relying too much on the AI trade to carry it.

“While the trend model shows that there are still more S&P 500 stocks trading in uptrends vs. downtrends, the narrowing gap highlights emerging cracks in the market’s foundation,” Turnquist said in a Wednesday note to clients. “These cracks can be repaired through broadening participation, but they also underscore the elevated concentration risk tied to a handful of dominant names driving the rally.”

Despite solid gains this week, stock volatility has also increased, particularly as tit-for-tat trade tensions have flared up between the U.S. and China. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), widely referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, finished Wednesday at 20.6 and was hovering around the 20 level Thursday.

President Donald Trump last week threatened to place an additional 100% tariff on any goods coming from China in response to the country’s new export controls on rare earth minerals. The trade tone softened over subsequent days, but tensions increased again Tuesday, when Trump on  threatened China with a cooking oil trade ban.

Investors are also keeping a watchful eye as the U.S. government shutdown continues for a third week. The stoppage has led to an indefinite shutdown of crucial economic data releases from federal agencies, giving traders less information at a time when concerns about the labor market, the effect of tariffs on consumers, high interest rates and historically elevated market valuations all remain top of mind.