The Nasdaq hit a record high on Wednesday and the S&P 500 was close behind as reassuring comments from Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) about global chip demand blunted the impact of weak earnings reports from Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT).
Texas Instruments jumped 7.1% after the company hinted that a global slowdown in microchip demand would not be as long as feared, powering the Philadelphia chip .SOX index up 2.8% to a record high.
“Semiconductor investors are looking past right now and saying that maybe in the second half of this year, economic concerns will start to abate a little,” said Willie Delwiche, an investment strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
However, trade-sensitive Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT.N) dropped 4.1% following disappointing earnings on weak sales in China and higher production and restructuring costs.
Boeing fell 2.8% after the world’s largest plane maker posted its largest-ever quarterly loss on the back of this year’s grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX after two deadly crashes.