Financial Markets                      02/24 09:33

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is holding steadier on Tuesday after 
getting a reminder that the artificial-intelligence technology boom may also 
have an upside.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, a day after sliding 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average was up 219 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, and the 
Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

   Advanced Micro Devices helped lead the market and climbed 7% after 
announcing a multiyear deal where it will supply chips to help power Meta 
Platforms' AI ambitions. Under the deal, Meta also got the right to buy up to 
160 million shares of AMD stock for 1 cent each, depending in part on how many 
chips Meta ultimately buys.

   It's a reminder of the excitement that built in recent years about the 
billions of dollars pouring into AI, which could remake the world and create a 
more productive economy.

   Recently, though, investors have begun to focus more on the potential 
downsides of AI and how certain companies and industries could see their 
profits undercut by an AI revolution. Industries as far flung as software, 
trucking logistics and legal services have seen investors suddenly and 
aggressively punish them for potentially being under threat.

   IBM rose 4.1% Tuesday to recover a chunk of its 13.1% drop from the prior 
day, which was its worst since 2000.

   The pain has also filtered out to the private-equity industry, with fears 
building that loans it made to software companies dependent on recurring 
revenue may have less of a chance of getting repaid. Blue Owl Capital fell 1.5% 
to bring its loss for the young year so far to 31.2%.

   Outside of AI worries, big U.S. companies continue to report mostly better 
profits for the end of 2025 than analysts expected.

   Keysight Technologies rallied 20% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after 
topping analysts' expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It 
also said revenue in the current quarter could rise by roughly 30% from a year 
earlier.

   Home Depot rose 2.7% after likewise delivering stronger profit and revenue 
than analysts expected. That was even with what CEO Ted Decker called "ongoing 
consumer uncertainty."

   They helped offset a 3.4% drop for Coinbase Global. The crypto trading 
platform fell as bitcoin dropped back below $64,000, close to half its record 
price reached in October.

   Meta Platforms also weighed on the market after slipping 1.2%. Because the 
parent company of Facebook and Instagram is one of the largest on Wall Street 
by market value, its stock has more of an effect on the S&P 500 than all but a 
handful.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly in Europe.

   In Asia, the swings were larger. South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.1%, while Hong 
Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.8%. Stocks in Shanghai rose 0.9% after reopening 
following a holiday of more than a week.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher after a report said that 
confidence among U.S. consumers improved by more than economists expected. The 
yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.04% from 4.03% late Monday.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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