LIVE MARKETS-US stocks claw their way back to gains as chips climb, big banks bounce

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US STOCKS CLAW THEIR WAY BACK TO GAINS AS CHIPS CLIMB, BIG BANKS BOUNCE

After two days of losses, Wall Street's main indexes clawed higher on Thursday, lifted by a chip-fueled surge after TSMC's blockbuster results, while investors combed through earnings from Morgan Stanley MS.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N to close the book on big banks' reporting season.

Meanwhile, investors are digesting comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Lutnick told CNBC on Thursday afternoon, under the terms of a new U.S. trade deal with Taiwan, companies from Taiwan will invest $250 billion and the island's government will invest another $250 billion to expand semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index .SOX rallied 1.76%, and posted a record close. However, chips, tech .SPLRCT and the Nasdaq .IXIC pared gains in late trading. At one point earlier in the session, the SOX was up nearly 4%.

In the wake of the Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs reports, big bank stocks staged a comeback. Both MS and GS posted record closing highs. The S&P 500 Banking Index .SPXBK, which had fallen four straight days, rallied 0.8%. Regional banks remained strong for a second straight day. The KBW Regional Banking Index .KRX added 1.9%, on top of Wednesday's 1.3% rise.

As for the main indexes, the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC ended up 0.25%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.26% and the Dow .DJI finished up by 0.6%.

The Magnificent Seven MAGS.K group of stocks - on which the broader market often depends heavily for gains - lagged the main indexes slightly with just a 0.17% advance.

Among other indexes scoring record closing highs on Thursday were the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index .SPXEW, the Dow Transports .DJT, the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index .MID, the small-cap Russell 2000 Index .RUT, S&P 500 Industrials .SPLRCI, S&P 500 Materials .SPLRCM, the PHLX Gold/Silver Index .XAU, and the S&P 500 Value index .IVX.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood shortly after 4 p.m. ET.

(Terence Gabriel)

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