4:12pm: Regional banks slump
US stocks ended lower on Thursday as renewed concerns over the banking sector and the possibility of a government shutdown pressured investor sentiment.
Zions Bancorporation led declines among regional banks, with shares falling about 13% after the company disclosed a $50 million charge-off tied to two commercial loans from its California Bank & Trust division.
The bank said the loans, totaling roughly $60 million, involved apparent misrepresentations and contractual breaches by the borrowers. Zions also said it has set aside reserves covering the full amount and has initiated legal action to recover the debt.
The disclosure raised investor concerns about potential credit quality deterioration and risk management practices across regional lenders.
Broader market sentiment was also weighed down by renewed political uncertainty in Washington, as lawmakers failed to make progress toward averting a federal government shutdown ahead of next week’s funding deadline.
The combination of financial-sector stress and fiscal uncertainty dampened risk appetite.
The Dow Jones was down 0.7% at 45,922 points, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% at 6,624 points, and the Nasdaq shed 0.5% at 22,564 points.
3:05pm: Shutdown drags on
US stocks moved further into negative territory as a key vote, which may have ended the US government shutdown, now in its 16th day, failed to reach the required number of votes in the Senate.
The vote was 51-45, short of the 60 votes required, as policmakers remain at an impasse over healthcare subsidies.
The S&P 500 was down 0.7%, the Dow Jones also slipped 0.7% while the Nasdaq was down 0.6%.
2:32pm: Market movers
- Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares surged to a fresh all-time high on Thursday driven by the tech giant’s continued innovation across artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital advertising.
- JB Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ: JBHT) shares climbed 18% after the transportation company's third quarter 2025 earnings exceeded expectations on operational efficiency improvements.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE, ETR:2HP) shares fell 8% following the company’s release of its fiscal year 2026 financial guidance, which fell short of Wall Street expectations.
- NIO Inc (NYSE:NIO) shares fell sharply after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, filed a lawsuit accusing the company of inflating its revenue through improper accounting practices.
- Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM, ETR:FOO) shares jumped 8% after the cloud computing giant set an ambitious revenue target of more than $60 billion for fiscal year 2030, signaling a return to double-digit organic growth over the next five years.
2:25pm: Housing sentiment edges up
The NAHB Housing Market Index rose five points to 37 in October, reflecting slightly improved builder sentiment.
Lower mortgage rates, now averaging 6.3%, and eased buyer financing costs helped drive a nine-point jump in future sales expectations—the biggest monthly increase since January, analysts at Wells Fargo noted.
Still, Wells Fargo noted that affordability challenges, margin pressures, and high inventories are keeping builders cautious, making a near-term rebound in residential construction unlikely.
1:22pm: Holiday retail sales growth predictions
US holiday retail sales are expected to be up 3.5% to 4% over last year as consumer spending has remained resilient amid economic challenges, analysts at Wells Fargo believe.
This forecasted growth would be below the long-run annual average of 4.7% and slightly under the 4.3% average over the prior expansion from 2010 to 2019, reflecting expected consumer restraint due to higher prices and tighter budgets.
“Consumers face a range of headwinds this holiday season—from a cooling jobs market and tariff concerns to a broad decline in confidence,” Wells Fargo wrote in a note to clients.
“These challenges may cause consumers to slow their roll, but will ultimately not stop them from getting out and spending this season.”
Tariffs are expected to influence prices for gifts and holiday-related services, the analysts noted.
“Even as the tariff impact has been contained thus far when it comes to overall consumer inflation, gifts are likely to cost more this year,” they wrote.
12:08pm: Google stock at all-time high
Alphabet shares surged to a fresh all-time high of $256.17 on Thursday morning, driven by the tech giant’s continued innovation across artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital advertising.
Thursday’s rally comes after Google unveiled a new 27-billion-parameter model for single-cell biology, C2S-Scale 27B, based on its Gemma platform.
The model predicted a previously unknown cancer-cell behavior, which was subsequently validated in living cells.
Tests indicated that combining a CK2 inhibitor, silmitasertib, with low-dose interferon increased antigen presentation by roughly 50%, effectively turning “cold” tumors “hot.” If further laboratory and clinical studies confirm these results, the finding could open new avenues for cancer therapies.
11:05am: Gold shines
The yellow metal’s record-setting rally continued on Thursday, with prices up another 1.8% about $4,275 per ounce.
“Gold seems set to clock a record fifth consecutive closing high, defying all expectations of a pullback,” according to IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“The move has catapulted gold to global fame, and if the queues seen in many cities are any indication, then the recent move seems set to continue. Silver’s move is poised to become even more dramatic, thanks to the lower liquidity on offer.”
9:55am: Salesforce and JB Hunt provide latest market boost
Wall Street has indeed started with investors in an upbeat mood, with the Nasdaq getting most of the benefit, up 0.6%, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones up 0.3% and 0.2%.
Top riser on the S&P, is JB Hunt Transport Services, after its earnings beat overnight.
And Salesforce is not far behind as it unveiled new growth targets.
8:02am: Nasdaq to benefit from investor optimism
US investors woke up in a mildly optimistic mood on Thursday, helped by bullish bank earnings as the continued government shutdown leaves the macroeconomic calendar temporarily blank.
The main Wall Street indices were pointing higher ahead of the open, led by tech stocks, with a 0.5% gain for Nasdaq 100 futures, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones futures were up 0.4% and 0.1%.
A day earlier, the tech and bank sector led gains, with the S&P adding 0.4% and the Nasdaq rising 0.7%, while the Dow finished just below flat.
The biggest gains were in the Russell 2000, as the domestically focused small- and mid-cap index rose just shy of almost 1%.
Earnings before the bell include TSMC, Charles Schwab, Marsh & McLennan, Bank Of New York Mellon, US Bancorp, Infosys and Travelers Companies. After the close, it's Intuitive Surgical, Interactive Brokers and CSX Corporation.
Taiwan Semiconductor delivered a record earnings beat and raised their outlook in what headlines called a vote of confidence for the AI megatrend, sending the likes of Nvidia 1.3% higher in premarket trading.
Marlet analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth, said third quarter earnings "have gotten off to a bright start – the big banks are having a ball – all of them beating on both top and bottom lines…but again this should not be a surprise… remember, earnings are history what is important is the guidance because the positive guidance is self-reinforcing for the investor psyche".
With no fresh macroeconomic data guidance to trade off today, he says the "risk is that when the numbers do hit, they could tell a very different story than the one investors are pricing in now leaving investors to ask. Will they confirm the “soft landing” narrative, or throw cold water on it?"
He notes that bonds have "rallied hard" in the past week, causing yields to plunge, with the 10yr once again testing 4% and holding, down from 4.16% while the 30yr is yielding 4.61%, down from 4.75% last week.
Gold prices continue to shoot higher, up another $30 in the European session to trade at $4,237, up $200 over the past week.