Financial Markets                      10/16 09:36

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher on Thursday following 
an encouraging signal for the artificial-intelligence boom.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, though trading has been erratic this week, and stocks 
have repeatedly swung between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average was up 116 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the 
Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

   Technology stocks helped lead the way after Taiwan Semiconductor 
Manufacturing Co. reported a bigger jump in profit for the latest quarter than 
analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang also said TSMC expects 
"continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies" going into 
the end of the year.

   That's important for the U.S. stock market because TSMC is a critical player 
at the center of the AI frenzy, making chips for such companies as Nvidia. 
TSMC's stock that trades in Taiwan climbed 1.4%, though its stock that trades 
in the United States edged down by 0.2%.

   Nvidia rose 1.3% and was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 
because it's Wall Street's most valuable stock.

   Such AI stocks have been at the center of Wall Street's surging to record 
after record this year, even though inflation is still high and the job market 
is slowing. AI stocks have shot so high that critics worry about another 
possible bubble, like the one that enveloped dot-com stocks and eventually 
imploded in 2000.

   Companies broadly are under pressure to deliver stronger profits after the 
S&P 500 surged 35% from a low in April. To justify those gains, which critics 
say made their stock prices too expensive, companies will need to show they're 
making much more in profit and will continue to do so.

   Salesforce climbed 8% and was one of the biggest reasons for the Dow's climb 
after the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, unveiled a 
plan to deliver more than 10% in compounded annual revenue growth in coming 
years.

   J.B. Hunt Transport Services trucked 17.3% higher after the freight company 
breezed past Wall Street's profit targets in the third quarter.

   They helped offset a 4% drop for Travelers, even though the insurer reported 
a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue 
fell short of forecasts.

   Hewlett Packard Enterprise sank 8.8% after giving long-term financial 
targets that some analysts found underwhelming.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across much of Asia and Europe.

   South Korea's Kospi soared 2.5% on hopes that a trade deal may be coming 
between Seoul and Washington. Samsung Electronics and automakers Hyundai Motor 
and Kia Corp. were among the big gainers.

   In China, where trade tensions have been rising with the United States, 
indexes added 0.1% in Shanghai and slipped 0.1% in Hong Kong.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.04% from 
4.05% late Wednesday.

   A report in the morning said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic 
region is unexpectedly shrinking. It's one of the few windows into the economy 
that the Federal Reserve has been getting recently as it tries to figure out 
whether high inflation or the weak job market should be the bigger concern for 
the economy.

   The U.S. government's latest shutdown is delaying important updates on the 
economy, such as a weekly update on unemployment claims that typically helps 
guides trading on Wall Street each Thursday. A day earlier, an important report 
on inflation was also delayed.

   ___

   AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.

   ---------

   itemid:21887690dfa4c47d05eebf6153f2e7c4