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Tesla jumps after media report that Trump could ease rules

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CVS Health ( CVS ) gains on new board appointments in Glenview

deal

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) slips ahead of quarterly results on Wednesday

(Recasts with preliminary closing details)

By Abigail Summerville

Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed higher

on Monday, recovering some losses as investors anticipate

quarterly earnings from AI leader Nvidia ( NVDA ), and Tesla

jumped on the prospect of favorable policy changes from

the incoming Trump administration.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday when

investors will assess demand for chips and the sustainability of

the AI euphoria that drove much of the market's rally this year.

The chip designer, which powered 20% of the S&P 500's return

over the past year, is expected to drive nearly 25% of its EPS

growth in the third quarter, according to BofA Global Research.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares were down after a report said its new AI chips

were overheating in servers.

"While Nvidia ( NVDA ) is the last of the Magnificent Seven to

report, you've seen a nice broadening in earnings and

attention," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO

Family Office. "It'll be noteworthy, but it doesn't feel like

there's the same level of impetus around it as there was a

quarter or two ago."

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 23.63 points, or 0.40%, to end at 5,894.06 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 112.31 points, or

0.61%, to 18,792.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 46.27 points, or 0.12%, to 43,398.72.

Energy stocks led the S&P with consumer

discretionary also rising as Tesla jumped following a

Bloomberg report that members of President-elect Donald Trump's

transition team were seeking to ease U.S. rules for self-driving

cars. Industrial stocks were the biggest sectoral

decliner.

CVS Health's ( CVS ) shares gained after the health insurer

said it would add four new members to its board in an agreement

with Glenview Capital Management.

"I think a lot of specific sectors could be pretty volatile

until we get more verbiage out of Trump's new picks later this

month," Schleif said.

Stock indexes have shed some of the sharp gains that

followed Trump's decisive victory, but Wall Street remains

fairly well-placed as 2024 winds down.

Rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow the

pace of policy easing and uncertainty over the impact of Trump's

cabinet appointments led to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq

logging their worst weekly losses in more than two

months last week.

With the key holiday shopping season set to commence,

results from major retailers including Walmart ( WMT ), Lowe's

Companies and Target ( TGT ) will be closely watched

this week to gauge the strength of the U.S. consumer.