Financial Markets                      11/10 09:36

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Big Tech and other superstars of the U.S. stock market are 
rallying on Monday, as Wall Street recovers much of its loss from last week.

   The S&P 500 climbed 1.1% to claw back about two-thirds of its first weekly 
loss in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 292 points, or 
0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher.

   Nvidia led the way and rose 3.7%. It and other winners in the frenzy around 
artificial-intelligence technology had been at the center of last week's drop. 
Critics say their stock prices shot too high and too fast in the mania around 
AI, drawing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst.

   Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes chips for Nvidia and 
other companies, saw its stock that trades in United States rise 3.2% after 
saying its revenue climbed nearly 17% in October from a year earlier. While 
such growth is strong compared with other companies, it's a slowdown from 
TSMC's earlier performance.

   The U.S. stock market got a boost from hopes that the U.S. government may 
soon end its longest-ever shutdown. The Senate took the first steps to do so on 
Sunday, though it's not assured.

   Hopes that air-traffic controllers may soon get paid again helped push up 
stocks of airlines and other travel-related companies. The cancellation of 
thousands of flights over the weekend because of staffing shortages of 
controllers helped increase the pressure on Washington to reopen the government.

   United Airlines rose 2.5%, and Delta Air Lines gained 1.8%.

   But stocks of health insurers fell as uncertainty remains about whether 
Washington will extend expiring health care tax credits, a key sticking point 
in the disagreement on Capitol Hill.

   President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post over the weekend -- 
with few details -- that the subsidies being sent to the "money sucking" 
insurance companies should instead be sent directly to people so they can buy 
their own health insurance.

   Cigna and Humana both fell 1.7%.

   Besides the pain caused at airports, the U.S. government's shutdown has also 
delayed many important reports on the economy. A resumption could upset 
financial markets if the released logjam shows data that dashes traders' 
expectations for coming cuts to interest rates.

   The wide expectation is that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut its 
main interest rate in hopes of shoring up what has been a slowing job market. 
Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can give the economy a 
boost while also pushing prices for investments upwards.

   But the Fed has said it may have to halt its cuts if inflation worsens 
because lower interest rates can give inflation more fuel.

   Without updates from the U.S. government on jobs and the economy, traders 
have been trawling profit reports from companies for clues about how things are 
going.

   Tyson Foods, which sells chicken and other meat, climbed 2.5% after 
reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It 
benefited from increases in prices of 11% to 17% for its beef and pork.

   Roughly four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 have also been 
reporting stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Companies 
usually top analysts' profit expectations each quarter, but the pressure was 
high this time around because they needed to justify the big moves upward their 
stock prices have made since April. Delivering bigger profits is one of the 
easier ways they can quiet criticism that their stock prices have become too 
expensive.

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

   South Korea's Kospi jumped 3% for one of the bigger gains. Chip company SK 
Hynix, which is cooperating with Nvidia on artificial intelligence, leaped 
4.5%. Its bigger rival, Samsung Electronics, climbed 2.8%.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.10% 
from 4.11% late Friday.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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