NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday in volatile trading as markets digested a strong earnings report from Nvidia and the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Nvidia shares jerked around but were up 1.6 percent in the early going after the company easily topped analyst expectations, reporting a whopping $19 billion in profits on record revenues.

While some analysts fretted over indications that growth was slowing, other investors stepped in to buy the stock – closely tied to the artificial intelligence sector, whose expected growth has been a major source of equity market strength in 2024.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 43,518.91 after being in the red moments earlier.

Wall St falls as Russia-Ukraine tensions rise

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 percent at 5,926.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 0.1 percent to 18,974.83.

On the geopolitical front, Kyiv on Thursday accused Russia of launching a non-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine in what would mark the first ever use of the weapon in combat – and a sharp escalation of the conflict.

A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment but said the government was making a “maximum effort” to avoid a nuclear conflict.