Stock market today: Nasdaq closes at a record ahead of key tech earnings

• US stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, with the tech sector rallying ahead of key earnings reports.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the day in the green, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a fresh record.
• Investors are waiting for Alphabet, AMD, Snap, and others to report after the bell.

US stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite rising to a fresh record as traders looked ahead to high-profile earnings reports. The tech-heavy index and the S&P 500 finished the day in the green, while bond yields wobbled.

Shares of Alphabet and Snap rose 1%, while Advanced Micro Devices popped 3% as investors awaited earnings after the closing bell.

Shares of Microsoft also rose 1%, while Meta shares climbed 2% as traders anticipated their financials on Wednesday. Apple, which held mostly steady, is on deck to report on Thursday.

Corporate profits have come in strong so far for the quarter. The S&P 500 is on track to post a net profit margin of at least 12% for the reporting period, which would mark the second straight quarter it’s done so, according to a FactSet analysis.

Traders are looking to a big few weeks for markets, with third-quarter GDP set to be published Wednesday and the October jobs report due out Friday. The Fed is due to make its next rates decision next week, a day after the presidential election.

Some doubts linger over whether the Fed will take interest rates as low as some investors initially hoped. Markets are pricing in a 53% chance rates will stay within 50 basis-points of their current target range at the Fed’s January meeting, up from 0% odds priced in a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 5,832.92, up 0.16%

  Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,233.05, down 0.36% (-154.52 points)

• Nasdaq composite: 18,712.75, up 0.78%

Here’s what else is going on:

• A hint in S&P 500 earnings calls suggests that corporate profits are about to boom, Bank of America says.
• Here’s what Wall Street is expecting for Meta’s third-quarter earnings report.
• The Fed is likely to disappoint markets with just one more rate cut this year, according to BlackRock’s Larry Fink.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil dipped 0.22% to $67.23 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, held steady at $70.74 a barrel.
• Gold rose 1.13% to $2,772.63 an ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield traded mostly event at 4.274%.
• Bitcoin popped 5.84% to $73,279.