The US stock market is rising following strong profit reports for Equifax, Hasbro and other companies, while oil prices ease back after nearing their highest levels since the war with Iran began.
asserted
war → rise → Iran
The S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent.
asserted
S&P → add → cent
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 539 points, or 1 per cent, as of 1:48 p.m. Eastern time, while more swings for the artificial-intelligence industry had the Nasdaq composite up a more modest 0.2 per cent.
asserted
composite → have → industry
The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures at 4.57am AEDT pointing to a rise of 34 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open.,
asserted
futures → set → open
The ASX lost 0.3 per cent on Tuesday.
asserted
ASX → lose → Tuesday
The Australian dollar was trading higher at US70.03¢.
Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and several companies delivered results for the latest quarter that were better than analysts expected.
asserted
analysts → trade → quarter
Big expectations for growth generally are what have allowed the US stock market to hit records recently despite worries about high inflation, higher interest rates and other challenges weighing on Wall Street.
asserted
market → allow → Street
Equifax rallied 10.6 per cent for one of the market’s biggest gains after reporting a bigger profit for the summer than analysts expected, despite high mortgage rates slowing some parts of its business.
asserted
rates → rally → business
Hasbro climbed 9.3 per cent after the toy company said its Magic: The Gathering game made more than $US600 million during a quarter for the first time.
asserted
game → climb → time
3M rose 5.8 per cent after the company behind Ace bandages and Scotch-Brite sponges likewise reported a stronger-than-expected profit, even as shoppers broadly feel discouraged by high inflation.
asserted
shoppers → rise → inflation
Stocks also got a lift after the price for a barrel of Brent crude erased an early gain to fall 0.8 per cent to $US108.70.
asserted
price → get → US108.70
Earlier in the morning, it got near $US112 and approached its highest price since the war with Iran began in late February.
asserted
war → get → February
The drop in oil prices will relieve some of the pressure on inflation, if it lasts.
asserted
it → relieve → inflation
Brent’s price has been yo-yoing between $US97 and $US112 per barrel this month on uncertainty about when the energy industry will return to normal.
asserted
industry → yoe → normal
For now, airlines and other companies with big fuel bills enjoyed the benefit of Tuesday’s drop.
asserted
airlines → enjoy → drop
American Airlines rallied 4.4 per cent, and United Airlines flew 2.8 per cent higher.
asserted
Airlines → rally → ?
Its stock soared 51.5 per cent to $US45.51 after Salesforce said it would buy the company for $US47.50 in cash for each share.
asserted
it → soar → share
Salesforce fell 1.4 per cent.
asserted
Salesforce → fall → ?
Keeping the market in check was General Motors, which sank 8.2 per cent despite reporting a bigger profit than analysts expected.
asserted
analysts → keep → profit
It also announced a program to send up to $US20 billion to investors by buying back its stock.
asserted
It → announce → stock
The pressure is on companies to deliver bigger profits not only now, but also in the future.
asserted
pressure → deliver → future
GM gave a forecasted range for profit over the full year of 2026 whose midpoint fell short of analysts’ expectations.
asserted
midpoint → give → expectations
AI stocks, meanwhile, continued to swirl.
asserted
stocks → continue → ?
They’ve been at the center of the market’s recent uneasiness, as euphoria around the technology’s boom gives way to worries that high interest rates in the bond market will slow the borrowing that’s allowed companies to buy so many AI chips.
asserted
companies → give → chips
Last week was the US stock market’s worst since June because of weakness for AI-related companies.
asserted
week → relate → companies
It initially fell more than 6 per cent at the start of Tuesday’s trading, only to swing to a gain of 5 per cent before pulling back to a rise of 2.3 per cent.
asserted
It → fall → cent
Such reversals are nothing new for the company, which has borrowed money to buy AI chips that it rents out to customers over the cloud.
asserted
it → borrow → cloud
A day earlier, it careened between a gain of 7 per cent in the morning and a loss of 3.5 per cent in the afternoon following last week’s tumble of roughly 25 per cent.
asserted
it → careen → cent
Tuesday’s struggles for AI stocks began in Asia, where a South Korean AI company, Elice, confronted a rough welcome to the stock market.
asserted
company → begin → market
Its stock dropped 32 per cent in its first day of trading in Seoul.
asserted
stock → drop → Seoul
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 3.7 per cent overall.
asserted
index → fall → ?
In other stock markets abroad, indexes in Europe pared bigger losses from earlier in the day.
asserted
indexes → par → day
The CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.4 per cent, and the FTSE 100 in London fell 0.3 per cent.
asserted
FTSE → slip → London
A day earlier, indexes fell sharply across Europe following violent protests that could ultimately force governments on the continent to increase their spending to ease voters’ anger.
uncertain
that → fall → anger
That in turn could put more pressure on their bond markets, which are already strained because of worries about heavy debt loads and strained budgets.
uncertain
which → put → loads
The Aporia
