Wall Street ends higher on revived AI momentum

An AI-fueled tech rally sent US stocks to a higher close on Tuesday as third-quarter reporting season gained steam, while the US Federal Reserve convened for its penultimate meeting of the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the gains. The buzz surrounding details of Anthropic's impending initial public offering helped boost chip stocks for the third consecutive session. Growing concerns over the viability of debt-funded spending amid rising borrowing costs have weighed on the AI trade this month. To fund its AI expansion, Meta increased its largest-ever equity fundraising to US$97.5 billion, sending the Facebook parent's shares down 1.6 percent. "(The Anthropic news) seems to be giving a little bit of a relief rally to the AI stocks, particularly the semis," said Chuck Carlson, CEO at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana, referring to chip stocks. "Those stocks have gotten clobbered in recent weeks and they were probably due for a bounce." Economic data showed rising new orders for computers and peripheral equipment, supporting the notion of strong AI-related spending. Nearly half of S&P 500 companies have reported third-quarter results. Of those, 83 percent have delivered better-than-expected results, according to the most recent available LSEG data. Boeing tumbled 10.7 percent following its bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss, while water-management company...