4:20pm: Tech giants drive rally
Stocks wrapped up the first trading day of November with a mixed finish.
The Nasdaq edged up 0.5% to 23,835, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 6,852, while the Dow Jones slipped 0.5% to 47,337. The Russell 2000 also dipped, down 0.3% to 2,471.
Big Tech names stole the spotlight, keeping the AI trade hot. Amazon shares jumped more than 4% to a record high after announcing a $38 billion deal with OpenAI, giving the ChatGPT maker access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips. Nvidia itself climbed over 2% toward a fresh record, boosted further by a recent analyst upgrade.
Despite the tech rally, gains weren’t broadly felt across the market. Roughly 300 S&P 500 companies have reported their third-quarter results, with another 100-plus reports expected this week. Investors will be watching earnings from Palantir, Super Micro, and AMD for further market cues.
All in all, it was a day of selective strength, with AI and tech stocks once again leading the charge while the broader market held steady.
3:50pm: Proactive news headlines
- American Resources Corp’s ReElement Technologies, a subsidiary of American Resources, announced a $1.4 billion joint partnership with the U.S. Department of War to expand domestic rare earth and magnet production.
- Ideal Power appointed semiconductor industry veteran David Somo as CEO and president, also joining the board of directors.
- Trust Stamp is launching its biometrically validated, quantum-secure TSI Wallet to support cryptocurrency and asset tokenization following a $10 million capital raise.
- Phunware published a white paper showing that digital engagement in hospitality could capture up to $2 million annually from post-check-in guest spending at a 200-room property.
- Sintana Energy provided an update on its planned acquisition of Challenger Energy, which will be completed via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Isle of Man law.
- Digi Power X strengthened its balance sheet to $85 million in cash and crypto to support 2026 AI data center and critical power expansion plans.
- First Phosphate shares began trading on Germany’s Tradegate Exchange, enabling European investors to trade during local market hours.
- HIVE Digital Technologies reached 23 EH/s in Bitcoin-mining capacity with 283% YTD growth and completed a C$2.3 million strategic land acquisition in New Brunswick.
- Meren Energy shares started trading on the OTCQX Best Market under “MRNFF” while continuing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm under “MER.”
3:15pm: Market movers
- FuboTV Inc (FUBO): FuboTV reported better-than-expected Q3 2025 results, swinging to an adjusted profit with a loss of $0.06 per share versus the $0.09 analysts had forecast.
- Kimberly-Clark Corp (KMB): Kimberly-Clark announced a $48.7 billion cash-and-stock deal to acquire Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol and other consumer health products.
- Cipher Mining Inc (CIFR): Cipher Mining signed a 15-year, $5.5 billion lease with AWS to provide 300 MW of AI-focused power and space starting in 2026.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)/Amazon.com (AMZN): AWS entered a $38 billion, seven-year partnership with OpenAI to supply cloud computing and Nvidia GPUs for AI workloads, boosting Amazon shares 4.7%.
- Uniqure NV (QURE): UniQure shares dropped over 58% after the FDA said its Phase I/II data for Huntington’s disease gene therapy are insufficient for a Biologics License Application.
- American Resources Corp (AREC): ReElement Technologies, a subsidiary of American Resources, announced a $1.4 billion joint partnership with the U.S. Department of War to expand domestic rare earth and magnet production.
- Digi Power X Inc (DGXX/DGX): Digi Power X strengthened its balance sheet to $85 million in cash and crypto to support 2026 plans for AI data centers and expanded critical power capacity.
- HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE): HIVE achieved 23 EH/s in Bitcoin mining capacity, marking 283% YTD growth, and completed a C$2.3 million strategic land purchase in New Brunswick.
2:15pm: Bumpy ride?
“A degree of tiredness is creeping into Wall Street's mood despite the strong performance thus far in earnings season," says IG's Chris Beauchamp.
"OpenAI's deal with Amazon has helped, but it can't deliver such surprises every day. As volatility rises once again, it looks like stocks could be in for a bumpier ride.”
1:00pm: Nasdaq outperforms
A quick check on how the markets are doing as we head into afternoon trading:
The Dow continues to lag, down 0.4%; the S&P 500 is 0.3% above water and the Nasdaq is outperforming, up 0.8%.
12:05pm: Kimberly-Clark to acquire Kenvue
Kimberly-Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB, ETR:KMY) announced it will acquire Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE), the maker of Tylenol and other consumer health products, in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $48.7 billion.
Shares of Kenvue surged on the news, up 16% at about $16.70, while Kimberly-Clark shares fell 12% to about $105.
The merger brings together brands including Huggies, Kleenex, Band-Aid, Tylenol, Neutrogena, and Aveeno, with anticipated 2025 annual revenue of around $32 billion. The transaction is expected to generate approximately $1.9 billion in cost synergies over the first three years.
11:15am: Week ahead
US markets head into another busy week of earnings but the ongoing government shutdown, if unresolved, will become the longest in history by Thursday.
This week’s earnings spotlight includes Palantir (PLTR), AMD (AMD), Shopify (SHOP), Uber (UBER), Amgen (AMGN), Pfizer (PFE), McDonald’s (MCD), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Airbnb (ABNB).
Economic data remains thin due to the shutdown, likely delaying October Nonfarm Payrolls for a second month. Analysts expect focus to shift to private-sector indicators and Fed commentary. Deutsche Bank noted that Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference last week was “meaningfully more hawkish than we anticipated,” signaling that a December rate cut is “far from…a foregone conclusion.”
10:45am: Manufacturing contracts in October
US factory activity continued to shrink in October, with the ISM Manufacturing PMI falling to 48.7, below expectations of 49.5 and down from September’s 49.1, marking the eighth consecutive month of contraction.
The report showed mixed signals: new orders edged up to 49.4 from 48.9, while employment slipped further to 46.0. Prices paid fell sharply to 58.0, the lowest in nine months, suggesting easing input cost pressures. Despite some components showing a milder pace of decline, overall production remained below the 50 mark, signaling persistent weakness in the manufacturing sector.
10am: Mixed open
It's a mixed open on Wall Street, as the futures market correctly anticipated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the one in the red, down 0.4% as more than two-thirds of the 30-company index are in the red, led by UnitedHealth, Verizon Communications, Chevron, Nike, Merck & Co and Caterpillar.
Thanks to sizeable gains for Nvidia, Amazon and Tesla, the Nasdaq opened up 0.65% and the S&P 500 rose 0.1%.
Amazon jumped over 4% after its Amazon Web Services (AWS) arm and OpenAI announced a $38 billion partnership, where AWS infrastructure will be used to run and scale OpenAI’s AI workloads, starting immediately.
Guess who makes the chips that OpenAI is running its compute infrastructure? Nvidia, of course, which recently did a deal with OpenAI.
8.15am: Mixed open expected
US stocks are set for a mixed start to November trading as persistent hopes, fears and a government shutdown continue to exert an influence on market sentiment.
Dow Jones futures are down a handful of points, or around 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are up 0.2% and 0.5%.
This followed a month where the Nasdaq advanced the most, rising 4.7% during October as the month finished with a round of mostly impressive big-tech earnings. The Dow added 2.5% and the S&P climbed 2.3%.
Of the two-thirds of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far in this earnings season, 83% have beaten expectations on earnings per share, while 79% have posted a positive revenue surprise, according to analysis by FactSet.
"Strong corporate earnings and continued enthusiasm over the outlook for artificial general intelligence underpinned the rally," said market analyst David Morrison, who noted that Nvidia is the only constituent of the 'Magnificent 7' left to report, due in just over a fortnight’s time.
Markets are still digesting the 12-month ceasefire in the US-China trade war, following a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last week.
However, it has become apparent that there were some "unresolved issues which will no doubt reemerge as bones of contention", said market analyst Daics Morrison at Trade Nation; these are TikTok, secondary sanctions on Russian energy and the future of Taiwan.
US monetary policy is also a key concern of markets, with the Federal Reserve announcing a 25-basis point rate cut last week, as expected, but with Fed chief Jerome Powell surprising investors by stating that a further cut in December was not a foregone conclusion.
Hampering the Fed's decision-making is a lack of economic data due to the ongoing US government shutdown, which will become the longest on record, if not resolved later this week, and would also see Friday's important non-farm payroll release also delayed for the second month in a row.
"But there are some private labour market data releases to consider, including tomorrow’s JOLTS Job Openings, and Wednesday’s ADP Payroll report," said Morrison.
About 100 more S&P 500 companies report this week.
Palantir reports earnings today, and, said analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo, will provide the market with "the latest view of the AI story", along with Qualcomm and AMD later in the week.