Stock market today: Stocks tick higher as S&P 500, Dow eye fresh records

US stocks largely slipped on Tuesday as investors digested China\'s launch of aggressive stimulus that lifted market spirits and a weaker-than-expected reading on consumer confidence.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose about 0.1%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was just above the flat line, building on its latest record close. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) popped about 0.3%.Stocks declined around 10 a.m. ET before recovering losses following the latest consumer confidence index reading. The Conference Board\'s index fell to 98.7 in September, below the 105.6 seen in August and lower than what the 104 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected.Stocks have shown momentum as the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate-cutting campaign and an apparently resilient economy spurs confidence in a coming rally. Some on Wall Street now forecast the S&P 500 will hit 6,000 this year — a big milestone less than 5% away.The Fed\'s jumbo rate cut last week kicked off the rally, and on Monday, several policymakers hinted the door is open for more big moves. On Tuesday, Fed governor Michelle Bowman explained she dissented to last week\'s half percentage point interest rate cut because "upside risks to inflation remain prominent."Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cardsAlso boosting the mood was China\'s launch of a raft of stimulus measures, its biggest since the pandemic. Global stocks and oil (CL=F, BZ=F) rallied after the PBOC\'s move to revive a slowing economy and support markets.On the corporate front, beleaguered plane maker Boeing (BA) took what it called a "best and final

offer" directly to striking factory workers after their union balked at putting it to a vote.Live 9 updates The "long lasting" impact of China\'s stimulus package remains unclear China stocks ripped higher on Tuesday after the government announced plans for wide spreading stimulus. Online retail giants Alibaba (BABA), Pinduoduo (PDD), and JD.com (JD) were all up at least 6%. But Charles Schwab’s Chief Global Investment Strategist Jeffrey Kleintop warned that prior pops in Chinese equities after the pandemic have quickly faded. "I\'m afraid we might already know how this is going to end for China," Kleintop said. "We know that Chinese stocks have rallied 20% in the past, when hopes about a stimulus driven turnaround happen. We saw that in May of this year, but that rally fizzled out as details revealed that the plan just wasn\'t as big or broad as hoped as it was actually implemented, and funding sources were pretty scarce. So only time will tell." He added that lower mortgage rates on existing loans, a potential benefit of the new package, but it\'s unclear how much that helps the economy as a whole. "It\'s a positive, but it\'s unclear how long lasting of an impact this will have on stocks," Kleintop said.Intel stock pops as company launches new chips Intel (INTC) stock rose nearly 2% as the chipmaker announced a slew of new products. Yahoo Finance\'s Dan Howley reports: The new chips, the Xeon 6 CPU and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator, promise improved performance and power efficiency and come at a time when Intel is trying to prove it has what it takes to be a major player in the AI space. The announcement follows a Wall Street

Journal report that Qualcomm is looking into a potential takeover of Intel to bolster its own chip business. Bloomberg, meanwhile, reported that Apollo Global Management is interested in making a multibillion-dollar investment in the chipmaker that would back Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s massive turnaround plan. Apollo is the parent company of Yahoo Finance. Intel says the new Xeon 6 chip offers P-cores, or performance cores, and says it features twice the performance of its predecessor. The chip, according to the company, is built for AI and high-performance compute scenarios including edge and cloud systems. The Gaudi 3 processor, on the other hand, is purpose-built for generative AI applications and will compete directly with Nvidia’s H100 and AMD’s MI300X line of chips. Intel says IBM (IBM) is using its Gaudi 3 accelerators as part of its IBM Cloud with the goal of offering a lower overall total cost of ownership. Read more here.Starbucks stock downgraded as turnaround will need more time, analyst says Starbucks (SBUX) will need time to "brew a fresh pot," per Jefferies analyst Andy Barish. On Tuesday, before the market open, Barish downgraded shares of the coffee giant to Underperform and lowered his price target to $76, citing "a lot of uncertainty over the next 12 months" following the "big run" in the past six weeks since Chipotle\'s (CMG) Brian Niccol was named CEO. Since Aug. 1, shares are up nearly 30% to around $95. In a note to clients, Barish said he expects "the stock will stall here and begin to retrace the \'Niccol gains\' particularly as fundamentals become more of the focus." Niccol, who began in the new role on Sept. 9, has s