US open: Nvidia lifts markets after product update, Dow hits new high

(Sharecast News) - US stocks pushed higher on Tuesday with the Dow hitting new heights and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite nearing record levels, supported by solid gains across the tech sector. The Dow was 0.3% higher at a new peak of 49,138.38, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,927.79 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to 23,490.24.

Strong gains from defence and energy stocks on Monday powered the Dow to a fresh closing high of 48,977.18 following Trump's assertion that America is now running the owner of the world's largest oil reserves. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also both gained, and are both currently trading just 0.2% shy of their respective peaks.

Energy stocks in particular were given a boost on Monday from a rising oil price as traders assessed the upheaval in South America. WTI crude pulled back 0.3% to $58.13 a barrel on Tuesday morning after having jumped 1.7% the previous day.

"US oil majors rose sharply on Monday as the market priced in US oil companies benefitting from the deposing of the Maduro administration in Venezuela," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. However, she added: "It will take many years before Venezuela can pump large quantities of oil again, so the upward impact on oil stocks could be short lived."

Precious metals prices, however, continued to advance as safe-haven demand pushed both gold and silver back towards record territory. Gold was 1.1% higher at $4.500 an ounce, while silver surged another 4.5% to $80.02/oz.

In macro news, the S&P Global US composite PMI for December was revised down to 52.7, 1.5 points lower than November's reading and the initial estimate of 53.0. This was the lowest rate of growth (marked by any figure above 50) in eight months.

Nvidia gains

Nvidia rose 2% after unveiling a new AI platform which aims to advance fully autonomous driving, while unveiling its new, faster AI chips sooner than expected.

Speaking at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas, chief executive Jensen Huang introduced Alpamayo, an open-source AI model designed to help self-driving cars reason through complex and rare driving scenarios and explain their decisions in real time. He also used the event to confirm that its next-generation Rubin AI chips were in production and due for release later this year, promising improved energy efficiency and lower development costs.



Sector peers Broadcom, TSMC, Intel and Qualcomm were also putting in a decent performance early on.

However, Meta Platforms declined after saying it would pause the planned European rollout of its Ray-Ban Display smartglasses due to surging demand and limited stock in the US.

Chevron, the only remaining major American oil producer in Venezuela, was trading lower following a 5% surge on Monday. Petroleum refiners Valero and Phillips 66, and oilfield services groups SLB and Halliburton, which all put in a strong showing the previous session, were also trading in the red.