Constellation Energy and Vistra stock surge after PJM capacity auction results
Investing.com -- The S&P 500 closed higher Tuesday, underpinned by a surge in semiconductor stocks on AI enthusiasm as investors awaited further update on trade deals after the White House confirmed that countries should submit their best trade offers by Wednesday.
At 2:43 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 214 points, or 0.5%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.6%, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.8%.
Semiconductor stocks surge on AI enthusiasm
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) gained over 2% as investors digest last week’s earnings report. The stock has risen 25% over the last month and is again approaching new highs.
Later this week (June 5), the market will get quarterly results from another AI leader - Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO). Analysts are bulled-up into the results. Today, JP Morgan said "we continued to see a strong demand profile for its AI products (custom ASICs and networking solutions), stabilization in the non-AI semi business (e.g., enterprise, server/storage, broadband, wireless) and continued VMware revenue synergy unlock."
Trade tariffs progress in focus
The White House has confirmed that it set a Wednesday deadline for countries to submit their best offers for trade negotiations. With a self-imposed 90-day pause to Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs on a host of nations due to expire in July, the White House is racing to secure a bevy of bespoke agreements. Several officials from the Trump administration have suggested that several agreements are close to being secured, although so far the only major deal announced has been with Britain.
However, the European Union has not received a letter from the United States that demands countries to present their best trade negotiation offers by Wednesday, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Tax cut bill working through Congress
Focus was also on the progress of a major tax cut and spending bill through Congress. Trump claimed that the bill is the “single biggest spending cut in history,” amid growing concerns that the bill will widen the fiscal deficit and also ramp up already stretched government debt levels.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the original version of the bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives last month, would add around $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion debt pile over the next decade -- a prospect that has caught the attention of many investors.
The upper chamber of Congress returned to Washington earlier this week with Republican lawmakers facing the task of placing Trump’s so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" on his desk for signing by July 4.
However, disagreements remain among GOP members over the broad contours of the measure, particularly plans for Medicaid coverage. Some have expressed worries that access to the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans will be limited, although Trump has argued that the proposal would only crack down on waste and fraud.
Job openings beat
Today, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed an improvement in the U.S. labor market. Job openings came in at 7391K, beating the consensus of 7110K and above the prior month reading of 7200K.
The data come ahead of the all-important non-farm payrolls report due Friday.
Elsewhere, auto sales data for May trickled out. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) reported a 16% rise in U.S. auto sales for May, aided by demand for pickup trucks and crossover SUVs.
The overall economy has shown signs of broad resilience in the face of the tariff turmoil. Still, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that it had trimmed its outlook for U.S. growth to 1.6% this year, down from a prior projection of 2.2%.
Dollar General lifts full-year guidance
There were more quarterly earnings to digest Tuesday, with Dollar General (NYSE:DG) reporting first-quarter net sales and earnings that topped estimates, leading the budget retailer to lift its full-year financial guidance despite lingering uncertainty over the impact of sweeping U.S. tariffs.
Signet Jewelers (F:SIG) stock rose after the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry reported first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings that beat analyst expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
Nio (NYSE:NIO) stock fell after the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer reported a wider first-quarter loss than analysts expected.
Elsewhere, Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) stock soared after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) (NASDAQ:META) entered into a 20-year agreement to purchase nuclear power from the energy company. Other companies in the nuclear sector, including the likes of Oklo (NYSE:OKLO), Nuscale Power (NYSE:SMR) and Vistra Energy (NYSE:VST) also benefited.
Ambar Warrick and Peter Nurse contributed to this article