Stocks touch record highs after round of strong earnings: Live updates

Stocks hit fresh records on Tuesday after the latest batch of earnings results impressed investors.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% after reaching a fresh all-time intraday high earlier in the session. The broad market index was up 0.3% at its peak. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 282 points, or 0.6%. At their respective highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.6%, and the 30-stock Dow jumped about 0.8%.

Shares of United Parcel Service and Wayfair gained 7% and 19%, respectively, after their results for the third quarter both exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. PayPal, which saw its latest quarterly results top analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines as well, increased 10% after the company told CNBC that it has partnered with OpenAI to have its digital wallet embedded into ChatGPT, effectively allowing users to pay for items found through the artificial intelligence tool.

So far, the earnings season is off to a strong start. About one-third of S&P 500 companies have reported. Of those, 83% have beaten earnings expectations, per FactSet.

Several “Magnificent Seven” names are set to report this week, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, which together account for roughly one quarter of the S&P 500’s total value.

Amazon announced it will begin layoffs on Tuesday that will amount to the largest cuts to its workforce in the company’s history, CNBC reported, adding to the slew of job cuts seen in the tech industry this year. Also on Tuesday, Apple and Microsoft shares crossed $4 trillion in value.

Tuesday marks the start of the two-day Fed meeting, where the central bank is expected to cut its benchmark rate rate for a second time this year. Traders hoping for a signal from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday that the central bank will cut once more at its final meeting of the year in December, partly driven by concerns about a weakening labor market. The Fed is dealing with an economic data blackout given the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

“Another batch of solid earnings, signs of easing inflation pressures, firming rate cut expectations, and confirmation of a President Trump-Xi meeting later this week underpinned the buying pressure,” LPL Financial chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist said in a note. “Fundamental strength will be in the spotlight this week, as 30 companies in the NDX report earnings.”

Investors during Monday’s session cheered cooling tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Both nations have agreed on a framework for a potential trade deal, which addresses China rare earth minerals restrictions, soybean purchases and TikTok.

The S&P 500 in the previous session recorded its first-ever close above the 6,800 level, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average likewise closed at record highs. The Russell 2000 small-cap benchmark finished at a new all-time high as well.