U.S. stocks opened mostly flat on Thursday as investors balanced upbeat sentiment with caution around tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 140 points, while the S&P 500 remained flat as Wall Street assessed a series of earnings reports from major banks and tech giants.
The Nasdaq Composite was also little changed, up 0.12% with the muted trading coming on the back of the index hitting a new all-time high amid bullish Nvidia news and earnings.
While key inflation data this week had buoyed investor sentiment, uncertainty lingers as President Donald Trump increases pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. Markets are also watching Trump’s push to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Another major driver for the market is corporate earnings.
Big Tech earnings
Economic data, tariffs, and Trump’s stance on interest rates appear largely priced in, shifting investor focus to earnings as a potential source of fresh upside momentum.
Stocks surged on better-than-expected results from major banks. Nvidia also helped lift tech stocks after the U.S. allowed the AI chipmaker to resume some sales to China.
The trend continued Thursday as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares rose on record quarterly profits. The company cited robust AI demand as a key growth driver. TSMC is the primary chip supplier for Nvidia.
In a comment, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei noted:
“China is a big market, and my customer can continue to supply the chip to the big market,”
Elsewhere, investors are eyeing Big Tech earnings, with results from Netflix set for after the bell.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies continued to signal bullish sentiment as Bitcoin (BTC) edged up following a notable slip from its all-time high at $123,000.
Oil prices were also slightly higher, despite ongoing concerns about oversupply from OPEC+ producers.