US stocks pop ahead of Fed decision, S&P 500 at record highs

Wall Street was upbeat Tuesday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 150 points and S&P 500 and Nasdaq jumping to record highs as Nvidia and a Microsoft-OpenAI deal boosted US stocks. 

With the Federal Reserve interest rate decision expected on Oct. 29, sentiment across risk assets ticked up, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed this by surging more than 150 points ahead of markets close. The benchmark index S&P 500 also gained, trading 0.4% up as it hovered above 6,800, while tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched higher by 0.8%. 

The gains on Tuesday followed Monday’s uptick that materialized amid investor reaction to a potential U.S.-China trade deal. Wall Street held the same outlook as stocks edged towards another bullish close, with the major gauges hovering at all-time highs.

Nvidia, Microsoft-OpenAI buoy US stocks

Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple were all up as Wall Street’s upbeat mood had the three major indexes at record highs. The gains for the megacap tech stocks came amid key developments across the ecosystem. 

Nvidia aided the positive sentiment as the AI chipmaker’s chief executive officer Jensen Huang highlighted a “turn a corner” outlook for the company. A mega $1 billion stake in Nokia also fueled intraday gains, with NVDA rising more than 3%

Microsoft shares also popped more than 2% as the market reacted to news of a Microsoft-OpenAI deal that could see the flagship AI startup pivot to a public benefit corporation.

Elsewhere, Apple shares rose to see the iPhone maker cross the $4 trillion market valuation, with demand for iPhone models key to the upside. 

What next for stocks?

With some Big Tech companies set to release earnings reports on Wednesday, positive U.S.-China trade talks, a potential Fed interest rate cut, and blockbuster earnings, is a confluence of tailwinds that could see Wall Street explode.

A similar outlook is expected for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader cryptocurrency market as gold continues to shed gains after a staggering rally in the past weeks.