Nasdaq, S&P 500 end higher after early weakness

NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks shrugged off early weakness amid the worsening Russia-Ukraine conflict on Nov 19 and finished mostly higher ahead of Nvidia results.

US equities spent much of the early going on the back foot, as Russia threatened major retaliation after Ukraine fired longer-range US missiles at its territory for the first time.

In particular, a nuclear threat from Russian leader Vladimir Putin unsettled investors.

But two of the three major indices later pushed into positive territory, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finishing at 18,987.47, up 1 per cent

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.4 per cent to 5,916.98, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3 per cent to 43,268.94.

“We’re kind of on our own continent over here,” Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital Partners said, of the US investor mindset.

“In time, we would be impacted by an escalation of tensions. But today, we’re going to shrug that off, because tomorrow we get Nvidia.”

Artificial intelligence star Nvidia piled on nearly 5 per cent ahead of results on Nov 20.

Other tech giants also advanced, Netflix and Tesla winning at least 1.5 per cent.

Walmart rose 3 per cent as it lifted its full-year forecast on higher profits. Walmart’s US business, which accounts for about two-thirds of revenues, enjoyed a solid 5.3 per cent gain in comparable store sales.

But Lowe’s dropped 4.6 per cent as it lifted some of its full-year projections. However, the home-improvement retailer still expects full-year comparable sales to be down at least 3 per cent in 2024. AFP