[NEW YORK] The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced on Monday, as artificial intelligence-related dealmaking boosted investor sentiment even as the US government shutdown extended through its sixth day. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached record closing highs, while the blue-chip Dow inched lower.
Chips took the lead after AMD said it would supply AI chips to OpenAI in a deal that could generate tens of billions of dollars in yearly revenue and would allow the ChatGPT creator to buy a stake of up to 10 per cent in the chipmaker. AMD surged 23.7 per cent, while the broader Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.9 per cent.
“The market is seeing some strength in areas like technology and consumer discretionary and it’s flying in the face of the government shutdown,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut. “The market is still interested in the AI trade and the companies that support and use it.”
“It’s a wave and waves don’t go on forever; it will eventually crest and decline,” Pavlik added. “But where are we this cycle of the wave? It’s impossible to know.”
The federal government remained shuttered for the sixth day as lawmakers idled in a partisan impasse. The shutdown has postponed the release of key economic indicators, forcing investors to rely on secondary, non-government data to gauge the timing and extent of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Monetary policymakers have cautioned against rushing to lower the Federal Funds target rate as inflation remains high, while others believe signs of softness in the labour market merit rate cuts. Financial markets have priced in an all-but-certain 94.6 per cent chance of a 25 basis point interest rate reduction at the conclusion of the Fed’s October meeting.
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Without new US government data this week, market participants are monitoring reports on outstanding consumer credit, mortgage demand and the University of Michigan’s preliminary take on October consumer sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63.31 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 46,694.97, the S&P 500 gained 24.49 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 6,740.28 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 161.16 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 22,941.67.
Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer discretionary led the gainers, while real estate suffered the steepest percentage decline.
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Analysts estimate aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 8.8 per cent for the July-to-September period, up 0.8 percentage points from projections at the beginning of the third quarter, according to LSEG data.
Tesla advanced 5.5 per cent after the electric carmaker teased an event scheduled for Tuesday on social media platform X over the weekend. TD Cowen cut its Starbucks price target, citing a weakening labour market affecting Generation Z, sending the coffee chain’s shares down 5.0 per cent.
Bitcoin breached the US$125,000 mark on Sunday, sending crypto-related firms Coinbase, Strategy, Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings all gained ground.
Regional bank Comerica gained 13.7 per cent after Fifth Third said it will buy the company in an all-stock deal valued at US$10.9 billion. Verizon shares dipped 5.1 per cent after the telecommunications company named former PayPal boss Dan Schulman as its new chief executive officer.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 665 new highs and 75 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 2,602 stocks rose and 2,062 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.26-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 46 new 52-week highs and nine new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 187 new highs and 58 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 19.69 billion shares, compared with the 19.17 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. AFP
