Aug 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 hit an

intraday record high for the first time since early June on

Tuesday, boosted by upbeat AI-driven forecasts from Caterpillar

and Palantir ( PLTR ) and hopes for an imminent deal to end tensions in

the Middle East.

Recent gains on Wall Street have been driven by strong

earnings from AI heavyweights such as Amazon ( AMZN ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) that reassured investors that their

billion-dollar investments were yielding returns.

The blue-chip Dow was also trading at a fresh intraday

record high.

The S&P 500 had retreated from all-time highs as tensions

between Iran and the U.S. resurfaced in early June and concerns

about elevated valuations following a strong second-quarter

rally weighed on AI-related stocks through July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 462.8 points,

or 0.87%, at the open to 53,641.21. The S&P 500 rose 30.1

points, or 0.40%, at the open to 7,630.62​, while the Nasdaq

Composite rose 174.1 points, or 0.67%, to 26,088.042 at

the opening bell.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru)