Live Markets: US stocks rally with bullish bets made ahead of Nvidia earnings

Lowes Companies

25/02/2026 21:15

Main US indexes rally; Nasdaq out front, adds ~1.3%

Tech leads S&P 500 sector gainers; industrials weakest group

Dollar, U.S. crude lower; gold edges up; bitcoin jumps ~8%

US 10-Year Treasury yield rises to ~4.05%

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

US STOCKS RALLY WITH BULLISH BETS MADE AHEAD OF NVIDIA EARNINGS

Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Wednesday with Nasdaq .IXIC leading gains and the technology and financial sectors outperforming.

Wednesday was a waiting game with artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia NVDA.O due to release what is arguably the most hotly anticipated earnings report of the season after the market close.

With the technology sector recently thrown into turmoil and showing some dramatic losses due to worries about hefty AI spending and potential competitive disruption from the booming technology, investors will be more anxious than ever for a strong report.

But on Wednesday at least, traders laid some pretty optimistic cards on the table already as Nvidia closed the session up 1.4% and provided the S&P 500 .SPX its second biggest index point boost on the day. For those looking at the score, it is expected to report fourth-quarter revenue of $66.21 billion up from $39.33 bln, and adjusted EPS of $1.53 up from $0.89 year-ago, per LSEG data.

Positive moods seemed to be somewhat contagious as the broader technology sector including chips and software companies outperformed on the day. The S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS rallied 2.9%.

     Indexes boasting a record closing high included the Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX, which added 1.6%, and the S&P 500 Utilities sector .SPLRCU, which edged up 0.4% on the day.

The S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT up 1.8%, led sector gainers, up  while industrials .SPLRCI lagged most with a 0.8% loss.

Not everything was rosy however as the PHLX housing sector index .HGX tumbled almost 3%, as  home improvement retailer Lowe's LOW.N slid 5.6% after cautious forecasts.

Here is your closing snapshot:

(Sinéad Carew, Terence Gabriel)

      *****

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

    BOFA CLIENTS FLEE FROM SMALL/MICRO CAPS FOR FOURTH WEEK CLICK HERE

    BUYBACK SUPPORT IN THE FACE OF SHORT SELLING CLICK HERE

S&P 500 FUND FLOWS HAVE MOVED COUNTER TO NVIDIA POST EARNINGS CLICK HERE

MORTGAGE RATES HIT 3-1/2 YEAR LOW, PROMPTING REFI JUMP - BUT WOULD-BE BUYERS DIDN'T BITE CLICK HERE

WALL STREET INDEXES RISE WITH TECH OUTPERFORMING CLICK HERE

LOOK TO CONGLOMERATES FOR AI VOLATILITY PROTECTION CLICK HERE

CONTRACTING RANGE PUTS NASDAQ COMPOSITE AT A CROSSROADS CLICK HERE

STILL A BIT OF RISK PREMIUM IN STERLING AHEAD OF SPRING STATEMENT CLICK HERE

GERMAN STIMULUS MOMENTUM STILL UNDER‑PRICED, UBS SAYS CLICK HERE

ANOTHER STOXX RECORD (ARE YOU BORED OF THEM YET?)  CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: PLENTY OF EARNINGS AND THEN THE BIG ONE CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: ASIA TECH BLOWS ITS OWN AI BUBBLE CLICK HERE

MarketClose02252026 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/buzz/klvylewakpg/MarketClose02252026.png