Cybersecurity stocks surge thanks to IBM, and Nvidia climbs on more good China news

Equity markets leaned higher as investors digested macro signals and company updates, with cybersecurity stocks rising on IBM-led discussion of enterprise spending shifts. The CNBC Investing Club described Tuesday action as the S&P 500 recovering roughly half of Monday’s losses after a cooler-than-expected June CPI report reduced expectations for a late-July Federal Reserve rate hike. Oil also extended its rally, with U.S. WTI crude briefly topping $80 a barrel. IBM’s preliminary second-quarter earnings miss became a focal point: CEO Arvind Krishna said customers shifted spending toward tech hardware such as servers, storage, and memory ahead of price increases, while also being “distracted” by cybersecurity concerns. That helped lift cybersecurity names including CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks, as well as storage and memory players. Healthcare was the weakest sector, with HCA Healthcare falling after cutting its full-year earnings per share outlook and warning of higher uninsured volumes. Nvidia gained about 4% amid Commerce Department comments that a “trivial” number of H200 chips shipped to China.