The New York stock market closed mixed on Tuesday.
While technology stocks and small and mid-cap stocks continued their upward trend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, comprising 30 blue-chip stocks, declined 0.6%.
The Dow’s weakness was primarily due to private health insurer UnitedHealth Group’s 18% plunge and pharmaceutical company Merck’s nearly 5% drop.
Meanwhile, tech giants like Nvidia and Tesla saw significant gains, with Nvidia surging by 5.6% and Tesla by 4.9%.
S&P 500 Turns Positive for the Year, Up 0.3%
The tech-heavy S&P 500 and Nasdaq continued their rally.
The S&P 500 closed up 42.36 points (0.72%) at 5,886.55, pushing it into positive territory for the year with a 0.28% gain.
The Nasdaq surged over 1.6%, reclaiming the 19,000 mark. It jumped 301.74 points (1.61%) to 19,010.09.
The Russell 2000, representing 2000 small and mid-cap stocks, rose 10.15 points (0.49%) to 2,102.35.
The Dow was the sole major index to close lower, falling 269.67 points (0.64%) to 42,140.43.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s fear index, continued its downward trend, dropping 0.17 points (0.92%) to 18.22.
Nvidia Briefly Becomes World’s Second in Market Cap
Nvidia’s stock surged following news of Saudi Arabia’s plans to build AI data centers based on Nvidia’s artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.
In cooperation with Humane, a Saudi company funded by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Nvidia agreed to supply 18,000 Blackwell semiconductors initially.
During trading, Nvidia’s market capitalization briefly surpassed 3.2 trillion USD, momentarily overtaking Apple as the world’s second-largest company.
Nvidia closed at 129.93 USD, up 6.93 USD (5.63%), with a market cap of 3.17 trillion USD, slightly below Apple’s 3.18 trillion USD.
Apple ended the day up at 2.14 USD (1.02%) at 212.93 USD.
Tesla jumped 5% after CEO Elon Musk joined U.S. President Donald Trump on a Saudi Arabia tour, presenting his robotaxi business plan in Saudi Arabia.
Tesla closed at 334.07 USD, up 15.69 USD (4.93%).
Microsoft, which announced plans to cut 3% of its workforce, or approximately 6,000 employees, was the only one among the M7 big tech stocks to close lower, down 0.12 USD (0.03%) at 449.14 USD.
Alphabet rose 1.31 USD (0.82%) to 160.89 USD, and Amazon gained 2.73 USD (1.31%) to 211.37 USD.
Meta Platforms closed up 16.60 USD (2.60%) at 656.03 USD.
Coinbase and Super Micro Computer Soar
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase skyrocketed 49.68 USD (23.97%) to 256.90 USD.
Coinbase was confirmed for inclusion in the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial, which is set to be acquired by Capital One Financial on May 19.
AI server manufacturer Super Micro Computer (SMCI) surged 16.02% to 38.89 USD, boosted by an optimistic outlook from investment bank Raymond James.
Raymond James initiated coverage with a buy rating and a 41 USD price target, citing SMCI as a market leader in AI-optimized infrastructure.
Boeing shares climbed 4.89 USD (2.46%) to 230.42 USD following reports that China had lifted its instructions for Chinese airlines to halt deliveries of Boeing aircraft amidst the tariff war with the U.S.
Private Health Insurers Take a Hit
Private health insurers, including UnitedHealth, faced significant declines.
UnitedHealth Group plummeted after a CEO change and withdrawing its full-year financial outlook, causing significant impact on the share prices of its competitors.
UnitedHealth plummeted 67.37 USD (17.79%) to 311.38 USD, while CVS Health fell 4.31 USD (6.65%) to 60.50 USD.
Elevance Health dropped 41.29 USD (9.91%) to 375.40 USD, and Humana declined 23.97 USD (9.48%) to 228.89 USD.
