Financial Markets                      01/15 15:31

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street steadied on Thursday as stocks in the 
artificial-intelligence industry bounced back following an encouraging report 
from a Taiwanese chip giant and as oil prices eased sharply.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and snapped the two-day losing streak it had been on 
since setting an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 292 
points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.

   Nvidia and other formerly high-flying AI stocks helped lift the market after 
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a major supplier to the industry, 
reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. TSMC 
also said it could boost its investment in equipment to $56 billion this year 
to take advantage of the AI boom.

   The frenzy around AI has already sent Nvidia and other superstar stocks to 
dizzying heights, but that stirred criticism that their prices had shot too 
high. Nvidia was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 Wednesday after 
sinking 1.4%. But it rose 2.1% after TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang 
said it's seeing "continued strong demand" in an encouraging signal for the 
entire AI industry.

   TSMC is a crucial player as a major supplier for Nvidia and other giants and 
as a key customer for ASML and other providers. TSMC's stock that trades in the 
United States rose 4.4%, while ASML's U.S.-listed stock rallied 5.4%.

   Other chip-related companies helped lead the U.S. stock market, including 
gains of 7.7% for KLA Corp. and 5.7% for Applied Materials.

   Also helping to calm financial markets was a sharp easing in oil prices.

   A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude sank 4.6% to $59.19, while Brent crude, the 
international standard, dropped 4.1% to settle at $63.76 per barrel. Analysts 
pointed to comments from President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday afternoon 
that he heard "on good authority" that plans for executions in Iran have 
stopped amid widespread protests against the country's leadership.

   Financial markets took that as a signal that tensions flaring above some of 
the world's largest oil deposits could ease, which in turn could lower the 
possibility of a disruption to the flow of oil.

   Gold's price edged back 0.3% in another signal of potentially calming nerves 
across financial markets.

   Earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies continued to pick up pace, 
meanwhile, with several more big financial companies delivering their results 
for the last three months of 2025.

   BlackRock, the giant that's now overseeing more than $14 trillion in 
investments, rose 5.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue than 
analysts expected.

   Morgan Stanley climbed 5.8% after likewise delivering stronger profit and 
revenue than expected. Goldman Sachs rose 4.6% after the investment bank topped 
analysts' forecasts for profit but fell short on revenue.

   Outside of earnings, Boston Scientific fell 4% after announcing it's buying 
Penumbra, whose products help remove blood clots, in a cash and stock deal 
valued at roughly $14.5 billion. Penumbra's stock jumped 11.8%.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following encouraging reports on 
the U.S. economy.

   One said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an 
indication that the pace of layoffs may be slowing. Other reports, meanwhile, 
said manufacturing was significantly stronger in the mid-Atlantic region and in 
New York state than economists expected.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.17% from 4.12% just before 
the release of the reports. It was at 4.15% late Wednesday.

   The stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. economy helped stocks of smaller 
companies to lead the market. Their profits can be tied more closely to the 
strength of the U.S. economy than their bigger, multinational rivals, and the 
Russell 2000 index rose 0.9%.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 17.87 points to 6,944.47. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average added 292.81 to 49,442.44, and the Nasdaq composite gained 
58.27 to 23,530.02.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

   South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.6% for one of the world's bigger moves.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

   ---------

   itemid:10049feb11f3a6bf7b2a79f1ad997edc