US STOCKS-Wall Street ends higher on AI strength; steelmakers climb on Trump tariff threat

Updates with end of trading session

By Noel Randewich and Shashwat Chauhan

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Monday, lifted by Nvidia and other AI-related stocks, while steelmakers surged after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump's latest potential trade barrier escalation came on Sunday when he said he would introduce 25% tariffs on all U.S. imports of steel and aluminum, on top of existing duties on the metals.

U.S. metals producers that would benefit from steel and aluminum tariffs rallied, including Nucor NUE.N, Steel Dynamics STLD.O, Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N, U.S. Steel X.N, Century Aluminum CENX.O and Alcoa AA.N.

AI chipmakers Nvidia NVDA.O and Broadcom AVGO.O climbed, while Amazon AMZN.O also gained.

"Investors are basically saying, 'Hey, let's go back into the areas that worked.' And one reason that investors are optimistic, in my opinion, is because of earnings," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

With fourth-quarter reporting season over halfway through, S&P 500 companies are expected to have posted year-over-year earnings growth of 14.8%, up from expectations of less than 10% at the start of 2025, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.

Heavyweight technology stocks fell sharply on Friday after Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on all countries, matching the tariffs levied by them.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 40.50 points, or 0.67%, to end at 6,066.49 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 190.25 points, or 0.97%, to 19,713.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 170.97 points, or 0.39%, to 44,470.35.

U.S. Steel's shares also got a boost after Japan's chief cabinet secretary said Nippon Steel 5401.T was considering proposing a bold change in its plan to buy the company.

McDonald's MCD.N jumped after the hamburger chain posted a surprise rise in its global comparable sales in the fourth quarter.

Rockwell Automation ROK.N surged after the automation products maker posted higher-than-expected profit for the fiscal first quarter.

Coca-Cola KO.N and DoorDash DASH.O are set to report quarterly results on Tuesday, with CVS Health CVS.N and computer-networking equipment maker Cisco CSCO.O reporting on Wednesday.

Investors are also looking to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's biannual monetary policy report to the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday and to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Expectations for the Fed's rate cuts to stay on hold in March solidified after Friday's mixed U.S. employment report.