Dow Climbs Nearly 300 Points as UnitedHealth Surges; Chip Sell-Off and JPMorgan Miss Weigh on Wall Street

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose early Tuesday, lifted by a strong earnings report from UnitedHealth, while a renewed slide in semiconductor stocks and disappointing results from JPMorgan Chase kept the broader market in check as third-quarter earnings season got underway.

The Dow was up 281.07 points, or 0.54%, at 52,131.62 as of 9:36 a.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 was roughly flat, and the Nasdaq composite fell about 0.3% as technology shares continued to struggle.

Investors were sorting through crosscurrents from bank earnings, a global sell-off in chip stocks and volatile oil prices.

UnitedHealth leads the Dow

UnitedHealth Group was the biggest driver of the Dow's gain, rising about 5%. The nation's largest private health insurer reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, and its shares were already up about 3% in premarket trading.

Because the Dow is weighted by share price rather than company size, large moves in higher-priced stocks such as UnitedHealth can have an outsized effect on the index.

JPMorgan misses for first time in years

The nation's biggest bank delivered a rare disappointment. JPMorgan Chase reported third-quarter net income of $15.3 billion, or $5.57 per share, up 6% from a year earlier but below the $5.90 per share analysts had expected, according to LSEG.

The results included $658 million in net losses on investment securities. Excluding those losses, the bank said it would have earned $5.75 per share, still short of forecasts. It was the bank's first quarterly earnings miss in nearly three years. JPMorgan shares fell about 3% in premarket trading.

Revenue from trading and dealmaking rose from a year earlier but pulled back from a strong second quarter. CEO Jamie Dimon said trading and investment banking activity "did moderate somewhat during the quarter," and the bank said it reduced share buybacks.

Dimon also struck a cautious tone on the economy, pointing to large fiscal deficits, sticky inflation, elevated asset prices, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions as risks. He said the bank remains "prepared for a wide range of outcomes."

Mixed results from other banks

Results from other major banks were mixed.

Goldman Sachs reported third-quarter earnings of $17.01 per share, up from $12.25 a year earlier. Net revenue rose 23% to $18.68 billion, driven by much stronger results in its Global Banking & Markets division. Goldman shares rose, leading bank stocks.

Citigroup reported its best third-quarter revenue in a decade and beat expectations, though its shares were little changed. Wells Fargo shares fell nearly 3% in early trading after its report.

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are scheduled to report results Wednesday.

Bank stocks had come under pressure during the third quarter as long-term Treasury yields climbed sharply, reducing the value of bonds held by banks and intensifying competition for deposits.

Chip stocks extend losses

Semiconductor stocks remained under heavy pressure, weighing on the Nasdaq. Memory chipmakers Micron and SK Hynix were set to open lower, extending a global sell-off in the sector.

In South Korea overnight, Samsung Electronics fell 7.4% and SK Hynix plunged 10.1%.

The selling followed a slump in technology and chip stocks on Monday, when investors reacted to competitive pressures and reports of advances in memory chip technology by Chinese rival ChangXin Memory Technologies.

Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, said Wall Street started the week in mixed fashion, weighed down by "another jump in crude prices and a sell-off in US chip names."

Oil and inflation in focus

Oil prices have been volatile amid tensions in the Middle East, adding uncertainty to the inflation outlook. Higher energy costs can feed into consumer prices and complicate the Federal Reserve's decisions on interest rates.

Investors are looking ahead to key inflation data later this week. The September consumer price index is scheduled for release Wednesday morning, followed by the producer price index on Thursday.

The reports will be closely watched for signs of whether rising energy prices are pushing inflation higher, which could keep pressure on bond yields and stock valuations.

Markets near record levels

Despite recent volatility, major indexes remain near all-time highs. The S&P 500 reached a record of 7,844.67 earlier this month. The Dow crossed above 52,000 in recent sessions and is up more than 12% over the past year.

Technology stocks, which drove much of the market's gains over the past year, have shown signs of fatigue in recent sessions as investors reassess the pace of artificial intelligence spending and competition in the chip industry.

Earnings season ahead

The bank reports mark the unofficial start of the third-quarter earnings season, which will give investors a broad look at how companies are faring amid higher interest rates and elevated energy prices.

Other companies scheduled to report this week include chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing on Thursday, whose results will be watched closely given the recent turmoil in the semiconductor sector.

Analysts will be focused on how companies describe consumer spending, demand for artificial intelligence and the effect of rising costs on profit margins.