Financial Markets                      07/20 09:36

   Wall Street is holding steadier Monday, as stocks of chipmakers and other 
winners of the artificial-intelligence boom trim some of their sharp recent 
losses.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street is holding steadier Monday, as stocks of 
chipmakers and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom trim some of 
their sharp recent losses.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, coming off its first losing week in the last three 
and just its third since the end of March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 
down 92 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq 
composite was 0.5% higher.

   Nvidia added 1.4% and helped the market recover some of its losses, swinging 
back upward after its drop on Friday was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. 
Sandisk climbed 3.9% after tumbling 29% last week.

   Advanced Micro Devices rose 3% after announcing an expanded partnership 
where Microsoft will use its products for AI, including its new Helios product 
starting in the second half of the year.

   Such stocks have been under pressure for weeks on worries that their prices 
shot too high in the euphoria around AI. On one hand, companies are making 
billions of dollars in revenue as customers pour money into AI chips and data 
centers. But all that spending may fizzle out if AI doesn't produce as much 
profit and productivity as promised.

   Wall Street may get some hints on that soon as some of the biggest spenders 
on AI report their latest quarterly results. On Wednesday, Alphabet will tell 
investors how much it made during the spring and give updates on its AI efforts.

   All kinds of companies are under pressure to report strong growth in profit 
for the spring. They will need to in order to justify the big moves their stock 
prices have made. Indexes are near their records, even with the recent 
shakiness for AI stocks.

   AMC Entertainment rose 10.6% after the movie-theater operator reported 
stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said 
that some of its theaters in Los Angeles and other cities ran "The Odyssey" for 
more than 85 straight hours from Thursday through Sunday to meet demand.

   Domino's Pizza climbed 3.1% after delivering stronger revenue for the spring 
than expected. CEO Russell Weiner said the company saw growth in orders for 
both its carryout and delivery businesses, even with the broad industry 
continuing "to face pressure on consumer demand."

   Much of that pressure is coming from still-high inflation, thanks in large 
part to high gasoline prices. Inflation last month was not as bad as economists 
expected, but it could be set to reaccelerate if oil prices keep rising.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil had dropped below $72 early this 
month, roughly back to where it was before the war with Iran began. But it's 
been jumping as fighting continues in the Middle East.

   On Monday, the price swung between roughly $86 and $91. It was most recently 
at $88.17, up 0.1%.

   Worries about expensive oil and high inflation have sent Treasury yields 
higher in the bond market, which threaten to slow the economy and undercut 
prices for stocks and other investments.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.58% from 4.55% late Friday and 
from just 3.97% before the war with Iran. Higher yields have already sent the 
average 30-year mortgage rate to its highest level in nearly a year.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes ticked lower in Europe.

   The moves were sharper in Asia, where South Korea's Kospi fell 4.5%. It's 
been at the center of the huge swings for AI stocks because it's dominated by 
two tech companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

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