Jan 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes climbed on Friday, driven by strength in chip and megacap stocks, while investors remained vigilant about ongoing corporate earnings and any hints on the timing of rate cuts.
The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab is less than 1% from breaching its record high despite a rocky start to the week, following mixed earnings from top investment banks and mostly disappointing comments on the possibility of early interest-rate cuts from central bankers globally.
Semiconductor stocks Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab, Marvell Technology (MRVL.O), opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Microchip Technology (MCHP.O), opens new tab gained between 0.1% and 1% after server-maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O), opens new tab lifted its second-quarter profit forecast, sending its shares surging 10.1%.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX), opens new tab hit an all-time high, while the information technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab touched a fresh record high as megacaps Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab added between 0.3% and 1.1%.
The recovery in chip stocks also comes on the back of a bullish forecast focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) , the world's largest contract chipmaker, on Wednesday.
"It seems that people are really looking at chip (stocks) to be the actual engine that's going to drive (AI) growth... not only in terms of computing power and processing power, but also revolutionizing businesses," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
Also on tap are remarks from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, for clues on the policy outlook before the blackout period begins ahead of a meeting on Jan. 31.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said rate cuts could begin if inflation continues to make good progress back down to the 2% target rate, but that more data was needed before any such judgment could be made.
Through the week, money market participants have toned down expectations for a 25-basis-point rate cut in March to 52%, nearing levels seen just before the central bank's December policy meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab was up 27.19 points, or 0.07%, at 37,495.80, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab was up 6.91 points, or 0.14%, at 4,787.85, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab was up 43.39 points, or 0.29%, at 15,099.04.
Among individual movers, Travelers Cos(TRV.N), opens new tab jumped 5.6% after the insurer's fourth-quarter profit more than doubled.
Comerica(CMA.N), opens new tab declined 0.8% after forecasting a drop in annual net interest income, while State Street (STT.N), opens new tab advanced 4.7% after topping quarterly revenue expectations.
Spirit Airlines(SAVE.N), opens new tab rebounded 20.1% as it assessed options to refinance its 2025 debt maturities, amid analysts' concerns over the airline's ability to stay afloat.
iRobot (IRBT.O), slumped 26.9%, after a report said the European Union's competition watchdog plans to block Amazon.com's (AMZN.O), opens new tab $1.4-billion acquisition of the robot vacuum maker.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.92-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.75-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 38 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 41 new highs and 65 new lows.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Siddarth S; Editing by Pooja Desai
