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WALL STREET INDEXES RISE WITH AI IN FOCUS AGAIN

Wall Street's three major indexes are gaining solidly early on Tuesday as investors continue to assess the latest developments in artificial intelligence $(AI)$, making for a mixed bag in technology stocks.

Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic unveiled 10 new ways for business customers to plug its technology into key areas of their work, weeks after other releases sparked a selloff in software shares. Shares in Fair Isaac FICO.N, AppLovin APP.O, and Palantir PLTR.O are down. But shares of FactSet FDS.N and Salesforce CRM.N are gaining along with DocuSign DOCU.O as Anthropic listed them as development partners along with LSEG LSEG.L.

With all that said, the S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT is the second biggest percentage gainer among the benchmark's 11 major sectors and by far the biggest index point booster.

Policymaker comments on the impact of AI are also an interesting mix though.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Tuesday that artificial intelligence could lead to a possible rise in the unemployment rate that the U.S. central bank may not be able to counter with lower interest rates.

But Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he doesn’t expect the adoption of artificial intelligence technology to wreck the job market in the U.S.

Elsewhere Royal Caribbean RCL.N, Ford Motor F.N and Home Depot HD.N are among the top of the pack in the consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD, which is the biggest sector gainer, rallying 1.5% after falling sharply on Monday.

Home Depot topped estimates for fourth-quarter results and maintained its annual forecasts, sending shares in the home-improvement retail chain up more than 3%. It benefited from resilient demand from professional contractors and minor repairs by budget-strapped customers.

Here is a morning snapshot:

(Sinéad Carew)

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