US stocks close higher on firm Nvidia earnings

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, as investors digested Nvidia's earnings results and continued to navigate ongoing tariff-related uncertainty.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.03 points, or 0.28 percent, to 42,215.73. The S&P 500 added 23.62 points, or 0.40 percent, to 5,912.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 74.93 points, or 0.39 percent, to 19,175.87.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with real estate and health leading the gainers by adding 0.95 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services bucked the trend by losing 0.35 percent.

Later in the day, a federal appeals court reinstated U.S. President Donald Trump's broad tariffs, at least temporarily, overturning a lower court's ruling on Wednesday that had blocked them on the grounds that their implementation process was "unlawful."

"The chances for a major slowdown because of the tariffs or a major consumer price increase definitely have gone down a little bit, not to zero because God knows what they're going to do," said Norbert Michel, vice president and director at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, referring to legal actions the Trump administration can take.

Meanwhile, Nvidia shares surged 3.24 percent on Thursday, following the company's first-quarter earnings release after the close on Wednesday. The gain put the stock on pace for its highest closing level since January.

Despite a notable 8-billion-U.S.-dollar revenue impact from U.S. export restrictions to China, investor sentiment was lifted by strong guidance from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and robust demand for AI infrastructure, particularly around Nvidia's upcoming Blackwell chip rollout.

"The 50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry," Huang said about the restrictions. "We are exploring limited ways to compete, but Hopper is no longer an option. China's AI moves on with or without U.S. chips." For the quarter, Nvidia posted revenue of 44.1 billion U.S. dollars, beating Bloomberg consensus estimates of 43.3 billion and sharply up from 26 billion dollars a year ago.

Elsewhere, Best Buy lowered its full-year outlook, citing economic uncertainty tied to the tariffs, which led to a drop in its stock. Attention has now turned to Costco's upcoming earnings release, as retailers face growing pressure. Trump recently told Walmart it should absorb the costs from higher import duties, following its latest earnings report.

On the economic front, jobless claims in the United States rose more than expected last week, signaling potential softness in the labor market. Additionally, the Commerce Department revised its estimate for the first-quarter gross domestic product, showing the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent, a slight improvement from the initial reading.