The three major U.S. stock indexes opened higher, boosted by strength in semiconductor stocks.
As of 10:20 a.m. on the 15th (local time) on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 300.43 points, or 0.61%, to 49,450.06. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 37.59 points, or 0.54%, to 6,964.19, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 178.01 points, or 0.76%, to 23,649.76.
The day's upward momentum was largely driven by Taiwan TSMC's results, which lifted overall investor sentiment in chip stocks. Taiwan TSMC, the world's largest foundry (chip contract manufacturer), set a record high for both revenue and profit last year on the back of rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Fourth-quarter revenue and net profit also hit all-time highs on a quarterly basis. TSMC's fourth-quarter revenue was NT$1,046.09 billion, up 20.5% from a year earlier, and net profit was NT$505.7 billion, up 35%.
Buoyed by the strong results, shares of TSMC listed in the U.S. rose more than 6%, and AMD gained more than 6% as well. Micron Technology and Nvidia each rose in the high 2% range. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index added 3.3%.
Financials also gained on surprise earnings. Goldman Sachs reported fourth-quarter equity trading revenue of $4.31 billion last year. That is a level no bank on Wall Street has ever reached. Fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) were $14.01, beating the market estimate of $11.67 by a wide margin.
Morgan Stanley also posted fourth-quarter EPS of $2.68 last year, topping the market estimate of $2.44. Revenue came in at $17.89 billion, above the market estimate of $17.7 billion. In particular, the wealth management division recorded net revenue of $31.8 billion, hitting an all-time high, and investment banking net revenue surged 47% from a year earlier.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, saw assets under management in the fourth quarter of last year rise 22% from a year earlier to $14.04 trillion. This is the first time BlackRock's assets under management have exceeded $14 trillion. Shares of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley rose 3.47% and 0.73%, respectively, while BlackRock jumped 4.97%.
New weekly jobless claims came in below expectations. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, initial claims for the week ended on the 10th were 198,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 207,000 the previous week and below the market expectation of 215,000.
European stocks were also mostly higher. The Euro Stoxx 50 was up 0.59% from the previous session at 6,040.69 in transaction. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX were up 0.57% and 0.08%, respectively, while France's CAC 40 fell 0.21% from the previous session.
International oil prices weakened on remarks by U.S. President Trump. Meeting reporters at the White House, President Trump said, "I have received reports that the killings that were taking place during Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests are subsiding," and added, "Tensions between the United States and Iran remain high, but at present I believe there are no plans for mass executions."
Trump's remarks were seen as an attempt to ease tensions with Iran, weighing on oil prices. At the same time, front-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February 2026 delivery fell 4.45% from the previous session to $59.26 per barrel.