Wall St mixed; chipmakers rise after TSMC's results support AI optimism

By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit

Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Thursday, as financial companies dragged while chip stocks extended their rally following a strong quarterly update from TSMC that reinforced investor optimism around AI.

TSMC 2330 raised its full-year revenue forecast on a bullish outlook for spending on artificial intelligence. U.S.-listed shares of the world's biggest producer of advanced chips 2330 fell 1.6% after rising more than 2% premarket.

Shares of some major U.S. chipmakers also advanced, building on gains from Wednesday when ASML's ASML solid quarterly results and a $40 billion data center deal by BlackRock and a Nvidia-backed group fueled optimism around AI.

Nvidia NVDA rose 1%, Micron Technology MU added 5.6% and Broadcom AVGO gained 1.1%. The S&P 500 tech sector S5INFT rose 0.4%.

Salesforce CRM rose 4.1% as it forecast revenue of more than $60 billion for 2030, above Wall Street estimates.

"The Nasdaq is having a pretty good day, being driven higher by the semiconductors and the software side of things," said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"There has been some concern about the potential for AI to automate software functions and so I think the market is unwinding some of those concerns today."

The AI-driven momentum and optimism around U.S. interest rate cuts have helped markets in recent months.

Robust earnings from major U.S. banks also grabbed attention this week, offering fresh signs of economic resilience at a time when official macroeconomic reports remain delayed due to an ongoing government shutdown.

At 11:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI fell 63.60 points, or 0.14%, to 46,189.71, the S&P 500 SPX lost 6.93 points, or 0.10%, to 6,664.13 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC gained 16.33 points, or 0.07%, to 22,686.41.

The S&P 500 financials index SPF declined 1.3%. The S&P 500 insurance index (.SPXIN) dropped 3.3% to an over two-month low. Insurers Travelers TRV and Marsh & Mclennan MMC reported quarterly results and fell 3% and 6.3%, respectively.

Meanwhile, investors were awaiting developments on the U.S.-China trade front after tensions resurfaced on Friday over China's rare earth export curbs.

China accused the U.S. on Thursday of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and rejected a White House call to roll back the curbs.

Top U.S. officials on Wednesday had called the controls a threat to global supply chains, while stressing that Washington did not want to escalate the conflict.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, emphasized on Wednesday that Trump was ready to meet his Chinese counterpart in South Korea later this month.

Data showed the Philadelphia Fed Business Index for October declined 12.8, compared with a rise of 8.5 estimated by the economists polled by Reuters.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he supported an additional interest rate cut in October due to mixed readings on the state of the job market.

Among other moves, Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE slumped 10.5% after it forecast annual profit and revenue below Wall Street expectations.

J.B. Hunt JBHT shares jumped 19.3% after a higher third-quarter profit.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.43-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 103 new highs and 56 new lows.