Wall Street closed broadly higher on Tuesday as a sharp rebound in semiconductor stocks and a wave of encouraging corporate earnings outweighed lingering unease over U.S. military strikes on Iran. The rally marked a reversal from Monday’s session, when Middle East tensions had knocked tech shares lower despite an early attempt at a chip-sector comeback. This time the bounce stuck, with technology leading every other sector by a wide margin.
What Moved Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 385.56 points, or 0.74%, to close at 52,224.82. The S&P 500 added 65.92 points, or 0.89%, finishing at 7,509.20. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed both, climbing 329.13 points, or 1.29%, to end the day at 25,837.21.
The move was driven largely by a recovery in memory and semiconductor names, which had been sold off in recent sessions on demand concerns. Investors rotated back into chipmakers on bets that growth in open-source AI models will drive a fresh wave of memory demand, while a batch of solid corporate earnings reinforced confidence heading into a heavy stretch of big tech results. Traders also continued to monitor developments in the Middle East after fresh U.S. strikes against Iran, but the geopolitical overhang did little to derail the day’s gains.
Notable Movers
Micron Technology (MU) was the standout of the day, soaring roughly 12% to 13% as analysts pointed to attractive entry points following the stock’s recent pullback, with several noting that accelerating adoption of open-source AI models should boost memory chip demand.
Nvidia (NVDA) gained about 1.3% to 2% after disclosing a stake in neocloud provider Nebius (NBIS), a move investors read as another sign of Nvidia deepening its ties across the AI infrastructure buildout.
General Motors (GM) rose more than 2% after the automaker posted second-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations, easing some concerns about consumer demand and tariff-related cost pressures in the auto sector.
Rapid7 (RPD) was the session’s most notable decliner, sliding 11.3% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the cybersecurity firm to Underweight from Equal Weight and set a price target of $9, citing concerns about the company’s competitive positioning.
Looking Ahead
With the major indexes bouncing back strongly, investors will be watching whether the semiconductor rally has legs as a heavy slate of big tech earnings approaches in the coming days. Any fresh developments out of the Middle East remain a wildcard that could quickly shift sentiment, as could incoming economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates. For now, retail investors should keep an eye on whether Tuesday’s broad-based strength can be sustained or whether it proves to be another single-day bounce in a choppier summer trading environment.