U.S. markets settle higher on renewed AI optimism

U.S. markets settled higher on Tuesday as renewed optimism around artificial intelligence (AI) lifted chipmakers. Investors also monitored a slide in oil prices and parsed through a slew of corporate earnings as the Federal Reserve began its two-day policy meeting. On the economic front, a report released by the Conference Board showed Consumer confidence in the U.S. has unexpectedly seen a substantial improvement in the month of October. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 91.7 in October from an upwardly revised 84.2 in September. Besides, another report released by the Commerce Department showed a modest pullback in new home sales in the U.S. in the month of September. The Commerce Department said new home sales fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 676,000 in September after surging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 680,000 in August. The street had expected new home sales to plunge by 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 655,000 from the 684,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Nasdaq increased by 308.42 points or 1.18 percent to 26,477.81, S&P 500 rose by 45.83 points or 0.60 percent to 7,722.6 and Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 15.99 points or 0.03 percent to 52,377.57.