US STOCKS-Wall Street rises with Nvidia; appeals court reinstates tariffs

Updates to afternoon trading

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, May 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were slightly higher in choppy afternoon trading on Thursday, with shares of Nvidia gaining after its quarterly results.

A federal court ruling blocked most of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, but by Thursday afternoon a U.S. appeals court had reinstated the tariffs.

Indexes were well off their highs of the day. Salesforce CRM.N shares fell 5% even as the enterprise software provider raised its annual revenue and adjusted profit forecasts.

The earlier U.S. court decision invalidated with immediate effect most of Trump's sweeping levies imposed since January.

Nvidia NVDA.O added 3.3% after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly sales growth, driven by customers stockpiling AI chips ahead of U.S. export restrictions on China.

The company, however, warned that the new curbs are expected to cut $8 billion from its current-quarter sales.

Optimism about corporate earnings and Nvidia in particular is providing some support, said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president, adviser for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

But he added, "As an investor, I don't think there's an impetus to do anything or change anything, and that's what the market is reflecting."

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX rose in the wake of Nvidia's results, last up 0.3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 61.22 points, or 0.15%, to 42,159.92, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.26 points, or 0.24%, to 5,902.94 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 42.11 points, or 0.22%, to 19,143.05.

Boeing BA.N climbed 3.3% after CEO Kelly Ortberg said the planemaker aims to increase production of its best-selling 737 MAX jets to 42 aircraft per month in the next few months and boost output to 47 a month in early 2026.

A second reading from the Commerce Department showed gross domestic product contracted 0.2% in the first quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.3% contraction.

In other earnings, Best Buy BBY.N dropped 8% after the electronics retailer lowered its annual comparable sales and profit forecasts amid concerns that U.S. tariffs would weigh on consumer demand for big-ticket items.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New YorkAdditional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Kanchana Chakravarty in BenglauruEditing by Pooja Desai, Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)

((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))