4:12pm: Stocks slump
US stocks finished Tuesday’s session lower amid rising investor concerns about the US government shutdown.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both retreated from all time highs, down 0.7% at 22,788 points and 0.4% at 6,714 points, respectively. The Dow Jones slipped 0.2% to 46,602 points.
3:55pm: Proactive news headlines
- Highland Critical Minerals Corp (CSE:HLND) announced that it will kick off an exploration program at its Sy Property in Nunavut, Canada, later this month.
- American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC) announced that its portfolio company ReElement Technologies Corporation has advanced as a finalist in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines competition.
- Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd (TSX-V:RECO, OTCQX:RECAF) announced that drilling at the Kavango West 1X exploration well in Namibia remains on the original expected schedule, with the company anticipating being at total depth in the second half of November.
- Charbone Hydrogen Corporation (TSX-V:CH, OTCQB:CHHYF) announced that it has taken possession of hydrogen production and refuelling assets from Harnois Énergies, which will allow it to relocate and repurpose hydrogen production equipment at its Sorel-Tracy facility in Quebec.
- Nextech3D.AI (CSE:NTAR, OTCQX:NEXCF) announced the acquisition of three strategic domain names, EventToken.com, EventDrop.io, and NextechTickets.com, to anchor the company's upcoming blockchain ticketing ecosystem, set to debut in the fourth quarter of 2025.
2:47pm: Market movers
- International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) shares rose nearly 3% Tuesday after the company announced a strategic partnership with Anthropic to use its artificial-intelligence (AI) models in IBM software.
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) shares fell more than 7% following a report by The Wall Street Journal about a fire at Novelis' aluminum plant in Oswego, New York.
- Dell Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:DELL) shares gained more than 3% in early trading on Tuesday after the computer maker lifted its long-term revenue and profit growth forecasts during its Securities Analyst Meeting.
- Trilogy Metals (NYSEAMERICAN:TMQ) stock surged more than 220% after it announced that the US government is acquiring a 10% equity stake in the Canadian-based mineral exploration company with mining interests in Alaska.
- AppLovin Corp (NASDAQ:APP) shares fell 14% then bounced back to trade higher on Tuesday following reports that the firm’s data collection practices are being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
1:32pm: Bullish on Nvidia
Goldman Sachs remains bullish on Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) as investors debate the nature of recent strategic investments in firms such as OpenAI and the extent to which these could be recycled by investees as GPU spending, which is recognized by Nvidia as “circular” revenue.
This circular revenue arises because Nvidia both supplies GPUs to investees and takes an equity stake, meaning some revenue flows back into the company’s ecosystem.
Goldman’s analysts see potential “circular revenue” from strategic investments as potentially dilutive to Nvidia’s multiple.
“As with any strategic investment in a customer which is not self-financing, we believe investors will focus on the fundamentals of that customer,” they wrote.
“When equity investment comes from a supplier, we believe additional scrutiny is warranted given the 'circular' nature of the revenue because of the investor’s dual role as investor and supplier.”
They note that while this structure supports Nvidia’s AI ecosystem, it may complicate the assessment of core earnings.
However, they continue to see significant upside to their 2026 estimates, noting they are “comfortable” in the risk/reward given “circular” deals represent less than 15% of revenue in 2027.
11:42am: Stocks pull back from record highs
US stocks pulled back as traders as the US government shutdown enters its seventh day.
Gold, meanwhile, continued to advance towards $4,000, driven by political uncertainty and rate cut expectations.
“The gold price rally is accelerating and is on track for its strongest annual performance since 1979 as investors seek safety amid political turmoil in France, the ongoing US government shut down, and expectations of two more Fed cuts by year-end,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.
“Silver's rally stalled around a dollar below its April 2011 all-time high, made close to the $50 mark, as oil snapped Monday's bounce."
10:45am: Goldman raises gold forecast
Goldman Sachs now expects gold to fetch $4,900 an ounce by the end of 2026, up from its previous $4,300 forecast.
The US investment bank says the forces behind the 17% rally since late August look anything but fleeting.
Those forces? A steady diet of exchange-traded fund inflows in the West and persistent central bank buying. In Goldman's words, these “sticky inflows” have effectively raised the floor for prices.
Unlike the speculative bets that often come and go with market mood, this money is proving to have longer staying power.
It’s not hard to see why. Since the freezing of Russia’s foreign reserves in 2022, emerging market central banks have been diversifying their holdings... and gold has been a clear beneficiary.
Goldman expects them to buy an average of 80 tons in 2025 and 70 tonnes in 2026, a pattern that alone could add 19 percentage points to the forecast 23% price increase by the end of next year.
Another helping hand could come from monetary policy. The bank expects the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by one percentage point by mid-2026.
9:50am: Gold pops
US stocks were little changed at Tuesday’s open, with the Dow Jones flat, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both adding 0.1% after closing at record high levels the day before.
Meanwhile, gold futures crossed $4,000 for the first time as traders continue to favor the safe haven asset amid global political and macroeconomic uncertainty.
"Capital continues to flow into traditional safe havens — gold, silver, and even Bitcoin. A further weakness in the US dollar — which remains the base case scenario as long as the government stays shut — should directly support these assets," Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said.
8:01am: Mixed future
Wall Street futures were mixed early on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened and the government shutdown entered its seventh day.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones moved from just below to just above flat as the opening bell neared, while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.1% above flat.
This was after the previous session saw the S&P add 0.4% to extend its winning run to seven days and record its 32nd all-time high this year, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.7% to post its 31st new peak.
The US dollar index climbed 0.4% to 98.5, its highest in a week and a half, with strong gains across the board, including the strongest against the Japanese yen since March.
The DXY has repeatedly fail to hold the 98 level over the past six weeks, said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation, "perhaps unsurprising given the expectation of lower US interest rates even as other major central banks go on hold."
He said the government shutdown "hasn’t helped sentiment towards the dollar" though the market has "shown large, short positioning in the greenback for most of this year, yet has been unable to push the dollar index below the mid-90s. Could this signal that a turnaround is coming?"
Stock market strength, meanwhile, is being driven by optimism surrounding corporate dealmaking and expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts, he said.
The rise in small-cap stocks on the Russell 2000, which also broke above a 2,500 for the first ever time last week and again on Monday, is one of the signs that the rally has "broadened out" recently, Morrison said, despite the US government shutdown.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the shutdown could have a negative effect on US economic growth, with large job losses if furloughed workers are laid off permanently, as White House has warned.
But market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone said "nobody really cares" about the shutdown, as "from the market’s perspective, it’s the same story – they create all the drama, they create hysteria and then in the end – they make a deal".
However, if it does drag on much longer, "then maybe the markets start to pay attention" as in 2018/19 when shutdown lasted five weeks and saw the S&P give back about 15%, "though it promptly recovered when the drama ended".
He noted that prediction markets are betting that it ends by next week.
President Trump has "signaled a willingness to strike a deal" with the Democrats, reports said.
Today sees a clutch of Fed speakers, including Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman, Neel Kashkari and Stephen Miran.