4:10pm: US stocks up as AI trade returns
Major US stock indices finished higher on the day, boosted by a rebound in Nvidia stock even as traders weighed the possibility of a US government shutdown that risks delaying the release the September employment report on Friday.
The Nasdaq rose 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3%, and the Dow edged 0.2% higher.
Nvidia shares led the Nasdaq advance, gaining more than 2%.
Other notable movers included shares of Electronic Arts Inc, which climbed 4.5% after the video game maker announced that it’s going to be taken private in a deal valued at $55 billion.
3:10pm: Proactive news headlines
- Medicus Pharma (NASDAQ:MDCX) said it has received positive feedback from US regulators that clears a path for the company to continue developing its experimental skin patch treatment for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.
- Lisata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:LSTA) announced what it called “encouraging” preliminary data from the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cohort of the Phase 1/2a CENDIFOX trial.
- 374Water Inc (NASDAQ:SCWO) provided an update on its Waste Destruction Services (WDS) businesses as well as an updated timeline for the deployment of its AirSCWO 6 System to the Orange County Sanitation District.
1:10pm: US stocks mixed on possible employment report delay
Major US stock indices were mixed midday as traders weighed the possibility of a US government shutdown that risks delaying the release the September employment report on Friday.
The Nasdaq rose 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, and the Dow edged 0.1% lower.
Nvidia shares led the Nasdaq higher, up nearly 2% as investors embraced the AI trade to start the week.
9.55am: Nasdaq opens higher, but Dow dips
US stocks opened with mixed performance, with the Dow Jones edged down 0.1%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq outperformed, rising 0.8%.
On the Nasdaq, Nvidia is up 3% to help drive the gain, with only Apple in the red from the top 10 largest names.
The Dow is weighted down by falls for Chevron, Boeing and McDonalds.
8am: Positive open expected to be led by Nasdaq
Wall Street stock futures were in positive territory on Monday, building on the positive momentum from the end of the past week ahead of further important economic data due in the coming days.
The Nasdaq 100 is expected to open at least 0.5% higher, with the S&P 500 called up 0.4% and the Dow Jones predicted to rise 0.3%.
Last week ended on a high note for US markets, after some momentum was lost in preceding days as investors lost confidence in AI spending and the likely pace of Federal Reserve cuts.
Some optimism was restored on Friday with the PCE inflation numbers arriving in line with expectations, with a 0.6% gain for the S&P, leaving it down only 0.3% for the week, with the Nasdaq Composite's 0.4% gain cutting its losses for the week to 0.65% and the Dow Jones up 0.7% and roughly flat for the week.
It was the S&P 500's largest weekly decline in around two months.
Tariff talk was reignited as President Trump announced new tariffs to start from 1 October, including 100% on branded pharmaceuticals.
Looking to this week, the big event "might not actually happen", as payrolls Friday could be a high-profile victim of a potential government shutdown if Congress is unable to reach an agreement on a short-term funding resolution by midnight tomorrow night, said macro strategist Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank.
This brought back memories of October 2013, when a shutdown meant the September jobs report did not arrive until the 22nd of the month.
Other macroeconomic highlights of the week are Fed speakers Waller, Bostic and Hammock speaking today; tomorrow brings US consumer confidence, JOLTS job opening and the Fed's Jefferson and Goolsbee speaking; Wednesay is the first of the month and has US manufacturing ISM, the ADP and the Fed's Logan speaking; Thursday has US jobless claims and the Fed’s Logan speaking again; and the week ends with US services ISM and the Fed’s Williams and Jefferson speaking on Friday as well as the NFP all going well.
Fears of a government shutdown rose last week, but over the weekend it was reported that today will see the President meeting with Democrat and Republican leaders to try to broker a deal.
"If there is a shutdown, all non-essential federal employees would be furloughed, which our economists estimate would cost the economy 0.2ppts per week on an annualised GDP basis," according to Deutsche Bank.
The longest shutdown was 35 days over the end of 2018 and into 2019, with 1996 seeing a 21-day shutdown and in 2013 there was a hiatus of 16 days, says Reid, while others have lasted a few days or even just hours.
"If we don't see the shutdown and payrolls then get released, it’s a very important number given the recent negative revisions and real-time downtrend in new hiring, not to mention the Fed and market reaction function."